[NDhunter]

Does anyone have knowledge of the market share of the premium optic lines?

[NDhunter]

Maybe a better question is who is #1,2 and 3 in sales?

[ceasar]

You will need a breakdown of Nikon's sale of premiums vs total sales. Might be hard to find out.
Bob

[falcondude]

As an EL owner, I have an "unbiased" impression: Swarovski>Leica>Zeiss>Nikon (premium only)

[jaymoynihan]

Originally Posted by NDhunter

Does anyone have knowledge of the market share of the premium optic lines?

I would assume the "Alphas" are a very small fraction of the binocular market.

[NDhunter]

Originally Posted by jaymoynihan

I would assume the "Alphas" are a very small fraction of the binocular market.

The question is who is the market share leader of the the 'alphas only'.

Not sport optics in general.

[RJM]

If you mean "which euro-brand sells the most binocular units between Zeiss, Leica, and Swaro?", I would expect Zeiss does by a considerable margin but it would just be speculation since Swaro is a private company and neither Zeiss or Leica break out sales by product line in financials. Zeiss is just so too big a company with a larger distribution network and lower pricing.

Rick

[pete_gamby]

I had a meeting last year with a European market research company that collects data on the imaging sector, covering printers, cameras and some optics products including binos.

From that meeting, it was clear that for our home market in the UK more than 50% of the volume sales of binos are through mass merchandisers such as Wal-mart, Tesco, Argos. This will be for sales of compacts and very low priced full sized bins. The data I saw suggested that the average price for a bin is $100 (total market value / total market volume).

If we can assume that its unlikely that Zeiss, Swaro, Leica sell in your local supermarket or online discounter, then they're fighting for 50% of the remaining market through optics specialists (inc hunting shops etc) and the on- and off-line photographic retailers. Here though they have to compete with e.g. Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Minox as well as local brands such as Opticron and Hawke in the UK, Steiner in Germany, Zen Ray, Vortex, Leupold in the US and so on.

Now for the "in my opinion" bit :-)

Depending on the market, it could be that those local brands account for 30%+ of sales by volume in a country, leaving the alphas to tough it out over <20%.

I would estimate that all three have single digit shares of the market by volume but could account for double digit value shares.

I came across some data once upon a time for Swaro suggesting global revenue of around $125 million in optics. Nikon's Sport Optics business is worth around $12 million. Leica around $48 million. These are global numbers and include rifle scopes etc.

So ranking by volume is very tricky... my guess:

Zeiss > Leica > Swaro

Cheers, Pete

[temmie]

just looking at this, suggests that Swaro>Leica>Zeiss

[ceasar]

Pete,
That global revenue amount of $12,000,000.00 you cite for Nikon Sport Optics some how seems way too low. I haven't been all over the USA but my observation, just from travels in my area (North East USA) over the years, is that you can't go into any Sporting Goods store or Outlet of any kind and not see a plethora of (mostly lower cost) Nikon Sport Optics.
Bob

[Fernando np]

It would be interesting to know the market share in hours of use. If you need to look carefully through binoculars for hours everyday and becoming blind isn't an option, "alphas" are the only option.

[brocknroller]

Given that among the big three's annual reports, at least the data presented to the public (shareholders are another story), Zeiss doesn't break down binoculars or Sports Optics but rather lumps them in with planetariums, camera and cine lenses and optronic products, it's not possible to tell how Zeiss Sports Optics stacked up against Swaro's and Leica's Sports Optics Divisions.

The cost of a dozen Zeiss planetarium projectors could take up the lion's share of the sales figures since they cost about $3 million each.

Let's run the numbers:

Swarovski Optik

Company data 2008

Swarovski Optik produces exclusively at its headquarters in Absam/Tyrol and in 2008 with a global workforce of 650 and an export share in excess of 90% it posted annual sales of around EUR 93 million.

Source: http://www.swarovskioptik.us/en_us/figures-data-facts

-----------------------------------
Carl Zeiss Group

FY 2008/09 (ended 30 September)

Due to the slump in demand in industrial business, EbIT (Earnings before Interest and Taxes) has dropped to minus EUR 67 million1) (last year: EUR 343 million.

During the reporting year the Consumer Optics/Optronics Group, which combines the company’s business with binoculars, planetariums, camera and cine lenses and optronic products, showed a stable development: revenues remained at virtually the same level as last year (minus one percent) and reached EUR 304 million (last year: EUR 309 million).

Source: http://www.zeiss.de/C12567A100537AB9...ct/FramedNews4

--------------------------------------------------
The Leica Group

Leica financial results of first half of fiscal year 2008/2009
* or the first six months of the current fiscal year (up to September 30, 2008) the Group led by Leica Camera AG registered sales of Euro 52.0 million.

As expected, sales in the photo segment fell to EURO 30.6 million. Sales in sports optics came to EURO 13.2 million. The sales downturn as compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year is due to the reluctance to buy before the photokina trade fair, cyclical fluctuations in the buyer regions, as well as the phasing-out of products that reached the end of their life cycles.

* As expected, the net income/loss of the Group as compared to the prior year period fell EURO 13.7 million to a Group net loss for the year of EURO 7.2 million.
--------------------------------------------------

So we at least know that Swaro greatly outsells Leica.

Swaro Sports Optics = Euro 93 million
Leica Sports Optics = Euro 13.7 million.

But where does Zeiss come in? Some suggested it's #1.

Zeiss has two product lines and so does Swarovski, Leica has one. It would stand to reason that the more models a company has to offer at different price points, the more sales its going to make. Leica's figures seem to suggest that.

Although birdwatching is an increasingly popular pastime, my take is that there are more hunters worldwide than birders.

Most hunters have Bushnell Trophies, Nikon Monarchs, and the like, relatively inexpensive bins that are offered in camo colors, but Swarovski is the darling of older and more well off hunters, as you can tell by browsing Websites such as 24hrcampfire and Optics Talk.

I often read thread subject heads that go like this:

Swaro vs. Brand X, Y, & Z

Swaros are the reference standard hunting bins. Even one the most frugal hunters I know owns a Swaro. :-)

They also make shooting scopes. Leica tried its hand but wasn't as successful:

"Leica briefly entered the US rifle market with their Ultravid scopes .... They were (not too secretly) produced in the USA by Leupold, using Leica glass optics. They competed directly with the Leupold LPS and didn't sell too well..."

While rifle scope sales do not reflect bin sales, scopes do make hunters aware of a company's other product lines.

Based on the figures above, with Swarovski's appeal to both hunters and birders, and based on its lower prices than the other alphas (SLCs), I would hazard a guess that Swarovski might beat the other two alphas in total sales (bins and spotting scopes).

However, it's a much safer bet to speculate that all the big three alpha sales taken together don't add up to the number of bins that Bushnell or Nikon sell each year.

As Pete mentioned above, 50% of bins sales in the UK come from big box stores, which carry low end optics.

It's probably the same here. If anything, maybe a higher percentage since we have more big box stores plus many sporting goods store chains.

[NDhunter]

Brock:

Thanks for the research, it seems it is difficult to get these kind of numbers.

By the way, Leica in the fall of 2009 has introduced their own riflescopes, made
in Germany.

I was most curious of the alpha brands, and this information helps.

Jerry

[pete_gamby]

@caesar - I think that number was based on 2008 fiscal reports (and exchange rates) but the latest one here:

http://nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library...cond_all_e.pdf

shows around $3.8 million for first half fiscal 2010. Sports Optics is 4% of Other Business which was ¥8.7 billion in the first half (slide 10). Unless I missed some zeros off that is... maths has never been my strong point :-)

@brock - note that your Leica number of €13 million is for half a year only so my $48 million for a year wasn't too far adrift but it still puts the company well below Swaro in revenue.

I stick by my ranking by volume for the top three in terms of optics... I think Swaro commands a much higher ASP due to a skew in sales to its very top models. "If you're gonna get wet, you may as well take a bath" i.e. if you're investing in the best, go for the very best they have :-)

Cheers, Pete