brocknroller
porromaniac
Would you buy a top shelf alpha Swaro, Zeiss, Leica or Nikon "MADE IN CHINA?"
First, to learn how this thread came about, please read this post:
Volvos Made in China
The basic gist is that Volvo, a premium Euro brand was sold to a Chinese company, which is thinking about changing the image of the brand to make the vehicles bigger and flashier to compete with similar models from Mercedes, Audi and BMW for Chinese buyers. The Swedish CEO of Volvo thinks that Americans will accept Chinese-made Volvos the way they did Chinese-made cell phones. Huh? You don't flash your cell phone at the country club the way you do your Volvo.
The three reasons I cited for buyers wanting to buy Volvos are somewhat similar to the three reasons alpha buyers buy Swaro SLCs/ELs, Zeiss FLs/HTs, Leica BRs/HDs and Nikon EDGs:
(1) They are robustly built.
(2) They are "stylish" and "high quality," because they contain the latest advances in optics. Also, they are not only aesthetically appealing to look through, but to look at (perhaps more so than Volvos).
(3) Satisfies the urge to own the "latest and greatest."They are prestigious, premium brands "Made in Europe."
If Volvo can be bought out by a Chinese company, then perhaps so could an alpha optics brand. Particularly, Leica, which was teetering on bankruptcy a few years ago, and which has been slow to come out with a new top of the line bin to compete with other top shelf alphas. Ripe for a hostile takeover from a company in Beijing?
I know some people balk at the hypothetical, but with Volvo moving its manufacturing to China, and many entry-level and even some mid-tier bins being Made in China, I think we need to at least consider the possibility that at some point, the top shelf bins might move over there. It could prevent the ever more costly alphas from becoming a "boutique brand," or it could totally flop (that is, early arguments about the Terra ED as "trashing the brand" will prevail).
What say ye, binofans? Would you buy a top shelf alpha if it were "Made in China?" Please explain.
Brock
First, to learn how this thread came about, please read this post:
Volvos Made in China
The basic gist is that Volvo, a premium Euro brand was sold to a Chinese company, which is thinking about changing the image of the brand to make the vehicles bigger and flashier to compete with similar models from Mercedes, Audi and BMW for Chinese buyers. The Swedish CEO of Volvo thinks that Americans will accept Chinese-made Volvos the way they did Chinese-made cell phones. Huh? You don't flash your cell phone at the country club the way you do your Volvo.
The three reasons I cited for buyers wanting to buy Volvos are somewhat similar to the three reasons alpha buyers buy Swaro SLCs/ELs, Zeiss FLs/HTs, Leica BRs/HDs and Nikon EDGs:
(1) They are robustly built.
(2) They are "stylish" and "high quality," because they contain the latest advances in optics. Also, they are not only aesthetically appealing to look through, but to look at (perhaps more so than Volvos).
(3) Satisfies the urge to own the "latest and greatest."They are prestigious, premium brands "Made in Europe."
If Volvo can be bought out by a Chinese company, then perhaps so could an alpha optics brand. Particularly, Leica, which was teetering on bankruptcy a few years ago, and which has been slow to come out with a new top of the line bin to compete with other top shelf alphas. Ripe for a hostile takeover from a company in Beijing?
I know some people balk at the hypothetical, but with Volvo moving its manufacturing to China, and many entry-level and even some mid-tier bins being Made in China, I think we need to at least consider the possibility that at some point, the top shelf bins might move over there. It could prevent the ever more costly alphas from becoming a "boutique brand," or it could totally flop (that is, early arguments about the Terra ED as "trashing the brand" will prevail).
What say ye, binofans? Would you buy a top shelf alpha if it were "Made in China?" Please explain.
Brock