Telescopia
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(zur Information)
Ich bitte um Verzeihung für diejenigen die kein Englisch lesen können.
Synta purchased Celestron over the weekend, & nothing would please me more than to see Meade shut down... After 40 years in astronomy, the history of Meade in particular strikes me as having been a very dark one, leading to a severe "dumbing-down" of the astronomy & telescope ommunity.
Amateur telescope making has all but died on the vine, with the birth of "checkbook astronomy". Meade in particular discovered that you don't make money selling telescopes, you make it selling the poor boobs 1000 & 1
accessories !
Regards,
John Allseits
Weiter:
Meade Instruments assured its 300 manufacturing workers Friday that it would do everything to keep those jobs in Irvine, even as overseas competition in the hobby telescope market intensifies.
"We're committed to innovation and quality, and we believe that it's best done through maintaining our current situation," said Robert Davis, Meade's senior vice president of corporate development.
But the business of making telescopes is changing. Overseas competitors are copying the technology at lower costs and charging lower prices. Meade and its closest U.S. competitor, Celestron, both manufacture telescopes in California. But Celestron hasn't been able to make the business succeed. The Torrance company is near bankruptcy and may be acquired by Taiwan competitor Synta any day now.
Joseph Lupica, Celestron's chief executive, did not return calls Friday. "The reality is that we've got to look at competing with an Asian manufacturer that's not subject to the same regulations in the U.S. and here in California. And their labor is much less," Davis said.
To survive, Meade and Celestron had formed an agreement to merge, which would save Meade $2 million to $3 million a year after eliminating duplicative expenses.
But with the Federal Trade Commission protesting previous merger attempts, the two companies sought FTC approval ahead of time, this time using the "failing firm" doctrine, which could allow two rivals to merge if it otherwise meant one would completely exit the market.
The FTC has not made a decision, and spokesman Barry Nigro declined to comment on the case. But Meade has been told by the FTC that if the two companies proceed with the merger, the FTC would fight it, Davis said.
"It's just sad that those technologies and jobs are going to go to Asia because the federal government was unwilling to complete its analysis in a timely fashion," he said.
Manufacturing jobs in Orange County are on the decline from the days when aerospace dominated the area, according to the Orange County Business Council. But local manufacturing jobs make up 13 percent of all county jobs, which is still a significant number, said Paul Garza, its vice president of economic and workforce development.
"Manufacturing, especially what we have here in the county, it's all really high quality," Garza said. "What usually keeps companies here that have the potential to go overseas is they want that close relationship with research and development and manufacturing."
Meade has diversified its product line since the 1990s, expanding into lower-priced telescopes, rifle scopes and binoculars with built-in digital cameras. The 550-employee company is working on new technology in each segment with the goal of sharing the high-end innovations with lower-priced product lines.
That has encouraged Paul D. Sonkin, chief investment officer for Hummingbird Value Funds, to keep his money invested in Meade. The fund owns more than 8 percent of Meade.
"If they are selling a commodity, they have a problem. If they can effectively differentiate their product, it's no longer a commodity and they get better pricing power. That's why you buy Prada shoes instead of shoes from Payless," Sonkin said.
Meade's revenues for the fiscal year ending Feb. 28 are expected to be $112 million, down from the prior year's $138 million. The company is also expecting a loss, compared to a profit of $2.45 million last year. Meade reports its 2005 financial results on April 21.
Another reason for slower sales could be Meade's recent strategy to sell lower-priced - and lower-quality - telescopes in department stores to reach a wider audience, says Russell Sipe, past president of the Orange County Astronomical Association.
"Celestron and Meade put out some crappy telescopes to sell in department stores. We (amateurs) felt like they sold out. They just weren't the quality that they could be and people were going to try it and not like it and get turned off of astronomy," Sipe said.
Paul M. Rybski, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair,
Dept. of Physics, and
Director, Whitewater Observatory
University of WI-Whitewater
Whitewater, WI 53190-1790
(zur Information)
Ich bitte um Verzeihung für diejenigen die kein Englisch lesen können.
Synta purchased Celestron over the weekend, & nothing would please me more than to see Meade shut down... After 40 years in astronomy, the history of Meade in particular strikes me as having been a very dark one, leading to a severe "dumbing-down" of the astronomy & telescope ommunity.
Amateur telescope making has all but died on the vine, with the birth of "checkbook astronomy". Meade in particular discovered that you don't make money selling telescopes, you make it selling the poor boobs 1000 & 1
accessories !
Regards,
John Allseits
Weiter:
Meade Instruments assured its 300 manufacturing workers Friday that it would do everything to keep those jobs in Irvine, even as overseas competition in the hobby telescope market intensifies.
"We're committed to innovation and quality, and we believe that it's best done through maintaining our current situation," said Robert Davis, Meade's senior vice president of corporate development.
But the business of making telescopes is changing. Overseas competitors are copying the technology at lower costs and charging lower prices. Meade and its closest U.S. competitor, Celestron, both manufacture telescopes in California. But Celestron hasn't been able to make the business succeed. The Torrance company is near bankruptcy and may be acquired by Taiwan competitor Synta any day now.
Joseph Lupica, Celestron's chief executive, did not return calls Friday. "The reality is that we've got to look at competing with an Asian manufacturer that's not subject to the same regulations in the U.S. and here in California. And their labor is much less," Davis said.
To survive, Meade and Celestron had formed an agreement to merge, which would save Meade $2 million to $3 million a year after eliminating duplicative expenses.
But with the Federal Trade Commission protesting previous merger attempts, the two companies sought FTC approval ahead of time, this time using the "failing firm" doctrine, which could allow two rivals to merge if it otherwise meant one would completely exit the market.
The FTC has not made a decision, and spokesman Barry Nigro declined to comment on the case. But Meade has been told by the FTC that if the two companies proceed with the merger, the FTC would fight it, Davis said.
"It's just sad that those technologies and jobs are going to go to Asia because the federal government was unwilling to complete its analysis in a timely fashion," he said.
Manufacturing jobs in Orange County are on the decline from the days when aerospace dominated the area, according to the Orange County Business Council. But local manufacturing jobs make up 13 percent of all county jobs, which is still a significant number, said Paul Garza, its vice president of economic and workforce development.
"Manufacturing, especially what we have here in the county, it's all really high quality," Garza said. "What usually keeps companies here that have the potential to go overseas is they want that close relationship with research and development and manufacturing."
Meade has diversified its product line since the 1990s, expanding into lower-priced telescopes, rifle scopes and binoculars with built-in digital cameras. The 550-employee company is working on new technology in each segment with the goal of sharing the high-end innovations with lower-priced product lines.
That has encouraged Paul D. Sonkin, chief investment officer for Hummingbird Value Funds, to keep his money invested in Meade. The fund owns more than 8 percent of Meade.
"If they are selling a commodity, they have a problem. If they can effectively differentiate their product, it's no longer a commodity and they get better pricing power. That's why you buy Prada shoes instead of shoes from Payless," Sonkin said.
Meade's revenues for the fiscal year ending Feb. 28 are expected to be $112 million, down from the prior year's $138 million. The company is also expecting a loss, compared to a profit of $2.45 million last year. Meade reports its 2005 financial results on April 21.
Another reason for slower sales could be Meade's recent strategy to sell lower-priced - and lower-quality - telescopes in department stores to reach a wider audience, says Russell Sipe, past president of the Orange County Astronomical Association.
"Celestron and Meade put out some crappy telescopes to sell in department stores. We (amateurs) felt like they sold out. They just weren't the quality that they could be and people were going to try it and not like it and get turned off of astronomy," Sipe said.
Paul M. Rybski, Ph.D., Associate Professor and Chair,
Dept. of Physics, and
Director, Whitewater Observatory
University of WI-Whitewater
Whitewater, WI 53190-1790