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The Shake Up: SINAR

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
Well, honestly, I am not too astonished about it anymore.

If true, then Sinar has fired all staff in Germany. Client requests will be served from headquarters in Switzerland according to a usually very reliable source of mine.

If anyone is wondering about Jenoptik in particular, it might be useful to compare the trend, and looking at the attached speaks volumes from where I am standing.

Red=NASDAQ
Blue= Jena
 

Graham Mitchell

New member
I received an email today from Helga Frorath, who was working at Sinar Germany. She told me they will be setting up a webshop in Switzerland. So at least one German staff member isn't being fired. It seems like a restructuring is in place.
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
Hi Graham,

restructuring is a nice description. :)

I seriosuly wonder what will happen on the short run with Jenaoptic, for sure worth keeping a close eye!

As Guy said in another thread, SINAR sales volumes in US (and Canada as I happen to know) are completly neglectable, they just never made it there, now sales is more than only threatened in Europe....

In general terms, without a certain sales volume, I would not call this restructuring anymore, but time will tell....
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
As far as I understand Sinar is just one very small business range of Jenoptik.
True, I am just wondering....

It started at 5.55 euros on January 2, 2009 and had a closing price of 3.50 euros in trading on the Xetra on March 31, 2009. As such, the Jenoptik share underperformed against the two comparison indices, the Dax and TecDax, losing nearly 37 percent of its value over the 1st quarter 2009.
 

David K

Workshop Member
George, I'm not sure how you make a connection between the posted chart and Sinar's prospects. Perhaps you're aware of some other information that you could share with us. The following charts were taken from Jenoptic's website and, putting aside the share price, they don't seem to have done too badly for 2008. Having said that I'm not overly optimistic about the MF market for any of the companies... but then again, I'm pretty pessimistic about the state of the world economy at large so take my opinion for what it's worth.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
From BJP

Title: Franke & Heidecke: Sinar reacts to news of closure
Feature: Daily News
Date: 6 July 2009

Sinar, one of the medium format camera makers directly affected by the closure of Franke & Heidecke, is still studying plans regarding its Hy6 camera, BJP has learnt

On 04 July, BJP revelead that Franke & Heidecke, the German manufacturer responsible for 6x6 format camera bodies for both Leaf and Sinar, had told its employees it was to close.

Speaking to BJP, a Sinar spokeswoman reacted to the news: 'Unfortunatly the final decision about the Sinar Hy6 camera is still pending,' she says. 'Sinar is still confident this product will continue. A final decision is expected around end of July.' Sinar refused to comment further.

Leaf, whose AFi system is based on the same camera body as the Hy6, has yet to return calls and emails for comment. For more updates, check bjp-online.com/news.
 

David K

Workshop Member
Just not good news coming from there camp it seems.
Can't argue with that Guy and I'd be inclined to say that all this bad news does nothing positive for the MF industry as a whole. Wish I had a crystal ball at the time I switched from Leaf to Sinar and loaded up on Rollei glass:) My main concern as a current owner is continued service, if needed, rather than the delivery of promised (but not delivered) additions to the lineup.
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
George, I'm not sure how you make a connection between the posted chart and Sinar's prospects.
Hi David,

I did not make that connection, just looking at Jenaoptik in general, the chart was from their website as of today as well.

Then again, common sense would make that connection. I would think that any company in such position would think about getting rid of costly ballast, and as suich I would see Sinar for them.

Time will tell....
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Completely agree David , I am more worried about the current owners more than anything. We all buy hoping service and support will be around plus parts and system advancements. Not sure what Sinar owner should do here , give up and unload it or buy spares and hang on for dear life. Bad situation no matter what happens just does not give the current owners a lot of confidence and that I feel really bad for them which obviously includes you. Just too much money at risk here.
 

arashm

Member
"As Guy said in another thread, SINAR sales volumes in US (and Canada as I happen to know) are completly neglectable, they just never made it there, now sales is more than only threatened in Europe...."

Just as an FYI, I live in Toronto, tons of people shoot MFDB Here and lot's of Phase and Hasselblad rental options.
I don't know anyone who shoots Sinar, I have never ever seen a Sinar back, and when the espirt65 was announced I was even planing to go to NYC for the day to check it out, but 3 times I tried, there was non for me to see...
which is a shame.
Kinda strange, Back in the film days 80% including myself shot Sinar 4x5.
am
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
My main concern as a current owner is continued service, if needed, rather than the delivery of promised (but not delivered) additions to the lineup.
David,

I would not think you need to worry about that, but prudence is certainly a good advisor.
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
Just as an FYI, I live in Toronto, tons of people shoot MFDB Here and lot's of Phase and Hasselblad rental options.
I don't know anyone who shoots Sinar, I have never ever seen a Sinar back,
Well, you missed me then. :ROTFL: I was there last year shooting with one. But seriously, yeah, I guess it would be difficult to locate Sinar users in Canada.

Btw. Love Toronto and Ontario, been there last year for the first time. If I can manage that one of these days, I plan to go to canada for a longer time, up to BC.
 

David K

Workshop Member
David,

I would not think you need to worry about that, but prudence is certainly a good advisor.
I certainly hope you're right but I can't help but think about how much I paid for several years of additional warranty coverage that just might not be available.
 

Georg Baumann

Subscriber Member
I certainly hope you're right but I can't help but think about how much I paid for several years of additional warranty coverage that just might not be available.
Hmmm, if I would be in your shoes, I would certainly get a further written confirmation, just in case.

I still do not think you need to worry, they just have to have something in place to honor those contracts, then again, there is always murphy's law.
 

evgeny

Member
I will not be surprised if there will be two MFDB players by the end of this year - Hasselblad and PhaseOne, similar to 35mm CaNikon's two-main-players market.
 

carstenw

Active member
Actually, having heard various rumours about Sinar, Jenoptik, Franke&Heidecke and so on, including some insider information about possible outcomes, what has happened is for me very positive, almost a best possible outcome. Sinar Germany, which is what is being closed down, is a marketing branch of Sinar in one of their largest markets. During good times these sorts of sub-companies make sense, to handle a lot of volume. In a time like this with the economy in a shambles, they are just overhead.

The fact that they have looked at their business, and decided that they need to trim overhead and run the company as lean as possible is just restructuring (yes, that is what restructuring is, I don't understand the comments about that, and of course, Sinar AG in Feuerthalen is still there), is very positive, because it means that they are still looking forwards, still thinking about the core business, and still have enough optimism left to trim something like this, which apart from Sinar's German customers won't affect anyone at all.

No product has been cancelled, no service has been limited (enough staff for support and warranty handling has been left standing), and there is still some room for optimistic hopes that the economy will have time to recover before Sinar has to take any further actions.

Apart from business as usual, trimming overhead is just about the most healthy sign that Sinar could send out. They still operate as a functional business.

On a different note, Hasselblad's price-cutting move also makes sense in the economy of today, and with Leica being an added competitor in the near future (if all goes according to plan).

However, I really can't understand Phase One's move. In a time like this, when sales in general must be dropping (although the P65+ seems to sell well), it is surely not a time to splurge, and the partial Leaf acquisition has me stumped. It smells like desperation to me, but I could of course be wrong. It just feels like Phase feels more and more marginalized with their tech, and wanted to expand in some kind of way. I think that the AFi would have made a stronger statement than just getting a few good engineers and a little intellectual property. Let's face it: Phase doesn't really stand in the shadow of anyone when it comes to digital backs; rather, it is the camera-side which is behind Hasselblad et al. The one exception might be the skin tone issue, where Leaf owners have been raving about the great skin colour for years.
 
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