Brock,
I don't kwow how things work at the automotive industry. I think, I do know a little bit how it works at the optical industry, so let me stick to that area.
You state to look at it the other way around. According to your theory Zeiss and leica don't have to spend so much money to R&D as Swarovski does because they are more efficient.
But...... This came from Zeiss and leica. Not from Swarovski. Zeiss and Leica stated that the reason why Swarovski makes superior optics comes from the fact that their R&D budget is bigger than the borh of Zeiss and Leica.
Further you state that the Nikon Monarch is the best selling bino in the world.
It seems to me (I am only very short on this forum but since 1993 in the optical sales) that you by some reason are a Nikon fan. Could it be that that troubles your vision just a tiny little bit??????? Maybe some selfreflection Brock????
We sell al lot of brands and also Nikon. Given the extreem poorly warranty status of Nikon down here it is sold extremely bad. Nikon number one in sales?
Considering the known sales figures it would be fair to say that Bushnell in volume is the number 1 in the world. In that category.
Are we going to the alpha class than Swarovski proves that only quality boosts sales.
Please don't try to turn my words around, Brock.
Jan,
I'm not trying to turn your words around, but I am trying to turn the "tables" around by using hyperbole to get you to see that perhaps you are looking through Swaros with rose-colored glasses, because you make more money on them than other "alphas" (or I guess you would call them "betas").
Swaros have always had a wide appeal among European hunters, and US hunters too, and up until the EL, that was their base. It's no co-incidence that Zeiss first marketed its new HT to hunters. With the HT's, Zeiss hopes to capture a larger slice of that segment that Swaro dominates, but without resorting to bigger and heavier bins such as the Night Owl, which some hunters still use.
If you peruse hunting optics forums such as those on Optics Talk and 24hrcampfire, or read hunting magazines, you will see that although some hunters buy Leicas and Zeiss bins, they overwhelming prefer Swaro on the top end.
Is that because Swaro bins are the superior, the only true, legitimate "alpha" as you claim? I think not. They sell more to hunters because they were the first to make bins that catered exclusively to that market with their yellow bias optics to help cut through the din of European winters, their green colored armoring, and because they have managed to hold their #1 position in that upscale hunting market due
excellent customer service and repairs.
The first to dominate any market always has the advantage as long as they don't rest on their laurels but keep catering to those customers, which Swaro has with the upscale hunting market. Leica could take a lesson from Swaro when it comes to customer service and repairs, but they don't seem to be as interested in marketing to hunters as they do to birders and yachtsmen. Zeiss seems to do better than Leica in regard to customer service and repairs, but their reputation is still not as good as Swaro's. If there is any place that Sawro is
superior to other two top players, it's in customer service and warranty.
So I think you're right (or partially correct) about Swaro's position in the top tier market, but for different reasons. It's my contention that neither sales nor R&D nor their products make Swaro the best "alpha", but rather their marketing and service.
Zeiss and Leica produce equally high quality products to Sawro's, but if they want to broaden their sales, particularly to hunters, they don't need to increase their R&D, they need to up their marketing and service game to match that of Swaro.
It still would be tough, because Swaro already dominates that segment, but Zeiss and Leica can make inroads into the upscale hunting market if they increase the quality of their marketing and service. Zeiss seems interested in doing that, I'm not so sure about Leica.
So Swaro started out with that large hunting market share, and now it's become successful in penetrating the birding market by making their AR coatings more "color neutral," adding ED glass, closer focus, and a faster focuser. These are all features that Zeiss and Leica bins already had, but they took it a step further and added field flatteners, which competes directly, with, dare I say it, Nikon.
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