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Meade in Financial Trouble ?

Space Dragon

By Space Dragon
in The Astro Lounge

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JamesF

JamesF

Posted
Posted

If they're burning $0.4m per month then they're probably already insolvent and even if they get the $0.6m withheld by customers that's hardly going to help much. It doesn't look good. If they ditched everything but OTAs and eyepieces perhaps they might slim down enough to recover, but otherwise who is going to want to pick up the pieces?

James

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Ptarmigan

Ptarmigan

Posted
Posted

I have spent 40 odd years (give or take) not buying products from Meade because of their restrictive practices and association with a particular UK importer,

considering the huge range of quality products from other providers (with proven amateur and professional qualifications) it will be no loss.

Sorry if my personal opinion offends.

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garethmob

garethmob

Posted
Posted

Well it's possible a thread of this topic could seriously harm any buyers trying to get In although CN is quite zelus at times and it is owned by a company unlike SGL so it's easy to forget....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk please ignore any spelling typo thingys

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PeterW

PeterW

Posted
Posted

Meade failed to diversify when the skywatchers and William optics turned up. The sct is not the only design! They make stuff in Mexico. The debt and PST coatings they picked up with Coronado would not have helped as did the lx400 issues i hear. They have beer walking dead for a number of years, sad as they have made some good kit. One wonders if they will be bought up, bits bought or the whole lot just vanish? I checked some of their recent SEC filings recently, they make grim reading. Another victim of the Internet and china.

PEterW

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jam1e1

jam1e1

Posted
Posted

Just checked their filings too from jan on yahoo financial, the management discussion part made interesting reading, backing up comments around financial difficulty. Agree doesn't look great , hope they pull through

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PeterW

PeterW

Posted
Posted

On further thought CCDs have not helped, they like shorter focal lengths. Though celestron seem fine, but they prefer EQ mounts as they are imaging friendly.

If I were synta I would think about buying Coronado and shipping to china, be interesting to see what they could do, otherwise Lunt have the market sewn up!

PeterW

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pete_l

pete_l

Posted
Posted
it will be no loss.
Although I too have very little Meade gear, I think there could be great harm to our hobby if they fold.

The problem isn't just their products, but they also take a large proportion of the advertising space in magazines. Without that (assuming Meade have been paying their advertising bills) income, some of the magazines might find it hard to carry on. It could also have a knock-on effect on some of the UK retailers, for the same reason.

I would guess that most retailers had wind of these problems some time ago (what with the debacle over the LX800 - a "bet the company" move that failed when they had to be recalled? ) and did what they could to protect themselves. But even so it could mean there are fewer telescopes in the UK for people to buy. Scarcity is not a thing if you want low prices.

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Carbon Brush

Carbon Brush

Posted
Posted

If Meade close, then I don't really see it significantly impacting our situation.

Working on the basic assumption that anyone who might have been in the market for a Meade scope will buy something else, the total number of scope sales will remain the same. Retailers will be OK.

Given that Meade are buying in a lot of parts from overseas plants, these suppliers simply offer their products to other scope 'names'. I say 'names' rather than manufacturers because of the significant outsourcing.

In the short term there might be worries about service and support for their complex scopes. But I'm sure that entrepeneurial and knowledgable people will step in. Who asks Canon to 'astronomise' a DSLR? Several UK companies can recoat a mirror. With a bit of skill you can fit a different focusser. I think you get the drift.

Secondhand prices on Meade scopes might be depressed for a short time until people realise that in reality, their scopes will continue to work and can be technically supported by others.

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E621Keith

E621Keith

Posted
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Is their primary production plant in China ?... if so its difficult to cut costs further.

No, they moved their production to Mexico and after that their quality control plummeted.

I think Meade grew too big and became too full of themselves. They stopped innovating and many of their products are incompatible with everyone else.

While all Celestron OTA are available with standard dovetails, Meade always sold their high end scope with a fork mount. A fork mount is locked to a particular scope which limited the upgrade options. Then there were several events that gradually destroyed their reputation. First, the telescope GPS lawsuit with Celestron show they acted like a bully. Then the was that fake RC scandal. That was followed by the recent LX80 and LX800 recall. Finally, the poor quality control and the legendary poor customer service all contributed to Meade eventual demise.

There is no significant lost if Meade USA go bust. Everyone is buying Celestron and Skywatcher anyway (and that's probably why Meade is going bust in the first place). We will have some problem with existing customer's warranty, but it's not like Meade is any good at honouring them anyway.

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r3i

r3i

Posted
Posted

The thread on CN seems to have been deleted.

I think CN are very cautious when there are posts that deal with companies. I guess litigation in the USA is a big concern.

While all Celestron OTA are available with standard dovetails, Meade always sold their high end scope with a fork mount. A fork mount is locked to a particular scope which limited the upgrade options. Then there were several events that gradually destroyed their reputation. First, the telescope GPS lawsuit with Celestron show they acted like a bully. Then the was that fake RC scandal. That was followed by the recent LX80 and LX800 recall. Finally, the poor quality control and the legendary poor customer service all contributed to Meade eventual demise.

Good points here - I would think Meade needed the LX80 & LX800 to be a successful launch and it is a shame it didn't happen that way.

Their optics have always been good but it's been the mechanicals and electronics where they appear to have had difficulties.

I've never been able to understand their stance on insisting that the whole product is returned to them for repair rather than selling parts for end users to replace themselves.

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EntropyStar

EntropyStar

Posted
Posted

If you don't grow...you go.

I've always been put off Meade scopes and I think they just come across as money grabbers and not really passionate about the hobby, I can't put my finger on it really. Well if prices depress I might stick my neck out and claim a reduced 16" light bridge :-)

Somebody earlier mentioned the risk to magazines, that's quite understandable there's a risk there but I feel the suppliers/shops etc have more then enough excellent kit to advertise and sell.

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earth titan

earth titan

Posted
Posted

I don't see Meade doing anything to distinguise themselves fom the competition. You either diversify into quality 'mass' produced optics (OO UK?) or go down the cost focused approach and compete with the likes of Skywatcher....

The only unique(ish) products for the masses they have, are the Lightbridge range as far as I can see.

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