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Is Synta Tech gone?


dhinson919

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First, I'm returning to the hobby after a 15 year break and I'm currently a pleased owner of a brand new SW EQ6-R.  Things sure have changed for the better.

But, in the category of not-so-fast, I'm now wondering if maybe I've made a big (and heavy) mistake.  Suspicions first arose when I tried to update the firmware on its latest V5 hand controller.  I succeeded but only after taking some extraordinary measures as I recently documented on the tail end of this

But it's clear I should not have had to do those things.  It appears that this procedure was once in the not too distant past a straight-forward one while now with the latest versions of things support for it is half-baked at best.  Curious I thought for a relatively new product that by many measures is a market hit.

Then I looked behind the curtain of the brand known as Sky-Watcher and a reason for the apparent lack of current support began to add up.  But in a dreadful way.

Here are the facts as I know them:

- Sky-Watcher is a subsidiary of the Taiwan company Synta Technology Corp.

- In 2016 a complaint was filed against Ningbo Sunny (of Meade fame) in California federal court alleging anti-trade collusion with Synta to fix prices.

- Last June, 2020, a California district court class-action complaint was filed against Synta directly further alleging anti-trade collusion with Ningbo to fix prices and supply chain.  (It is a very interesting read https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Telescopes.pdf)

- In Feb, 2020, the Wikipedia page for Synta Technology was updated with a single-line edit from a user in Kiev Ukraine that read simply "Synta Technology Corporation announced its closure in 2019".

- The company website registered with taiwantrade.com for Synta now returns 404 not found.

Summed up, it looks like I may have just purchased an expensive device from a manufacturer which may no longer exist except on retailer websites and only while supplies last.

Is this the case?  Surely there is news that I have missed.

Also noteworthy is that Synta is/was the parent of Celestron as well.

 

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1 hour ago, johninderby said:

Synta is alive and well and doing very well indeed.

Try looking for Synta Optical Technology

I did.  I can find no evidence that Synta Optical still exists or has had anything to do with the Synta or Sky-Watcher brands for the past 15 years.  That's when Nantong Schmidt Opto-Electrical acquired the Synta international trademark from them (https://www.trademarkia.com/wipo/trademarks-search_mod.aspx?tn=synta).  You can even book a trip to Schmidt's factory in Jiangsu where you can watch guys behind glass putting together Esprits (https://swz0726.en.made-in-china.com/company-NANTONG-SCHMIDT-OPTO-ELECTRICAL-TECHNOLOGY-CO-LTD-.html).  That said I am somewhat relieved that it looks like a very nice factory, and there are some indications that it is owned by the government of China so it is unlikely to go bankrupt anytime soon.

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3 hours ago, billhinge said:

I presume  they are still made unless there is a huge surplus stock?

http://skywatcher.com/download/software/    => http://skywatcher.com/where-to-buy/  => http://www.xdwyj.com/ ?

I've given up trying to unravel all of this and since I can't read Chinese my sources of information are limited.  But from what I can tell there is no entity named Sky-Watcher who manufactures anything.  Sky-Watcher brand telescopes and motorized mounts are manufactured by Nantong Schmidt, who possibly took that over from Synta Optical as much as 15 years ago.  Synta Technology is/was a holding company who owns both factories (unclear what Synta Optical does now if anything) as well as Sky-Watcher USA, Sky-Watcher Canada and Celestron which are their import/export and sales operations.  If Synta Technology no longer exists though (if the Wikipedia article is to be believed) it is unclear who controls those subsidiaries now.  Why does it matter?  Well before I buy any more Sky-Watcher gear I'd like to know if there's going to be an organization around in the coming years to support it.

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11 hours ago, billhinge said:

 

I get the support aspect but it doesn't leave you with many  viable alternatives in this price point? Vixen / ioptron?

 

You're right.  In the end there are few alternatives.  (By design if the class-action allegations are true.)

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  • 1 year later...

The owner of the Skywatcher brand, and Celestron Corp and various other entities, and of the patent portfolio underpinning Skywatcher gear and manufacturing processes is Nantong Schmidt. David Chen is still executive chairman. I toured the manufacturing and engineering facilities in Dec 2018 and they looked healthy and financially successful to me.

Tony Owens  

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