Photography: Leica defies the crisis - record sales and smartphone plans

100 years after its first steps onto the market, camera manufacturer Leica has shown little sign of the current crisis in the German economy. "I see the world in large white spots," said Leica investor and chairman of the supervisory board Andreas Kaufmann to the German Press Agency.

Encouraged by record sales, he is planning to open more stores. And there could also be news from Leica on the smartphone market in the anniversary year. Leica Camera AG is planning three new locations in Asia, and sales are also to be strengthened in America and Germany. Kaufmann is convinced that the African continent also offers opportunities.

The growth plans also include considerations for a new smartphone with Leica optics for the European market. Until now, the "Leitz Phone", for which Leica worked together with Sharp, was marketed exclusively in Japan. Now another smartphone manufacturer could be brought on board. Leica optics can currently be found in flagship models of the Chinese smartphone provider Xiaomi.

Worldwide, sales of digital cameras fell sharply after 2010, but most recently sales rose again in 2023 to almost 9.5 billion euros, according to GfK surveys. "Most people today take photos mainly or exclusively with their smartphones," said a spokeswoman for the industry association Bitkom . Leica wants to take advantage of this trend.

According to a survey by the association, in 2023 around 70 percent of people used smartphones mainly or exclusively for holiday photos, while only twelve percent used digital cameras for this purpose. "Digital cameras are mainly used by professional photographers, artists and ambitious amateur photographers who specifically value manual settings and higher image quality," says Bitkom.

The association also expects sales figures in this segment to fall in Germany in the long term. Those who continue to rely on digital cameras are investing in higher-quality equipment, which is leading to rising average prices. Canon is the world market leader in the digital camera business in terms of sales, followed by Sony and Nikon.

Kaufmann's growth plans are based on the support of an emerging middle class in many countries as well as on innovation. Larger acquisitions or an IPO are not currently in sight.

The Austrian holds 55 percent of Leica Camera AG, the remaining 45 percent belong to the US investment company Blackstone, with which the company has "a very relaxed relationship, especially with regard to strategic orientation."

There had been repeated speculation about when Blackstone would withdraw from Leica. Kaufmann did not comment on this, but pointed to the company's strong increase in value. The 71-year-old himself will soon hand the company over to his children, who are already involved in management and other areas.

Before Kaufmann joined the company in 2006, the camera manufacturer, which at the time had an annual turnover of around 107 million euros, was in an existential crisis - partly because Leica was late in entering the digital photography market. Kaufmann restructured the company and invested a lot of money in a company headquarters with a gallery, hotel, store, production and administration building, which attracts guests from all over the world.

Most recently, Leica's revenues grew by 14 percent to 554 million euros in the 2023/24 financial year. In the current financial year, which runs until the end of March, the 600 million euro mark is expected to be exceeded. The traditional company, which employs around 2,400 people worldwide, has not announced a result.

"I hereby decide: We will take the risk!" - with this sentence, the entrepreneur Ernst Leitz II once ended a previously controversial internal debate about the introduction of a new photographic system and thus paved the way for the triumph of the 35mm camera.

Thanks to the small, handy and elegant cameras, photographs could now be captured on 35-millimeter film instead of on bulky plate cameras as before - a milestone for snapshots and for street and press photography.

The Leica I was first presented at the Leipzig Spring Fair in early March 1925 - since then, the cameras from Wetzlar have served as a tool for many great photographers such as Henri Cartier-Bresson and Robert Capa.

The longevity of the early Leica models is also rather unfavorable for business, says Kaufmann with a wink. He himself owns a Leica with the production number 7,815 from 1928. As in this case, many of the cameras, which are still almost exclusively made by hand, can be traced back to where they were sold.

Particularly rare pieces sometimes fetch millions at auctions. To mark the anniversary, which will be celebrated in cities such as Milan, Shanghai, Tokyo and New York after the opening event in Dubai, as well as at the company headquarters in Wetzlar in June, historical pieces will be up for sale at an auction.

© dpa-infocom, dpa:250227-930-388243/1