Leica is about to be sold, and a Chinese company may take over.

The century-old high-end camera brand Leica is looking for a new owner.

On January 26th, according to Bloomberg, Leica's two major shareholders, ACM Investment Company and the US-based Blackstone Group, are considering selling the controlling stake in Leica Camera. This deal is valued at around 1 billion euros, equivalent to approximately 8.2 billion yuan.

Currently, potential buyers include HSG (formerly Sequoia Capital China), an investment institution with Chinese background, European private equity firms, and the Asia Optical Group.

However, the negotiations have just begun. I wonder if Xiaomi and Huawei are interested?

Behind the Share Sale

Leica is an old German brand with a history of over a century.

In 1913, Leica created the world's first prototype of a 35mm camera; in 1925, it officially launched the first mass-produced model, thus initiating the era of portable photography.

During World War II, many war correspondents used Leica cameras to capture historical moments; even today, Leica's classic rangefinder cameras are still coveted by many photography enthusiasts.

A single camera can easily sell for tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand yuan. Thanks to its high-end positioning, Leica has made a lot of money.

However, as mobile phone manufacturers have been intensifying their efforts in imaging capabilities, and traditional camera brands such as Sony and Fujifilm have been seizing the market with intelligent technologies like AI photo editing and fast autofocus, Leica's high-end market share has gradually been eroded.

In the previous fiscal year, Leica's revenue was 596 million euros, and the growth rate dropped significantly from double digits to 7.6%, which is also the core reason for the shareholders' decision to sell the equity.

Stories with Huawei and Xiaomi

Leica's high valuation is not only due to its century-old brand strength but also owes much to its cooperation with Chinese mobile phone manufacturers.

First, there was the cooperation with Huawei.

In 2016, Huawei was making all-out efforts to break into the high-end mobile phone market, but the photography effect could not set it apart from Apple and Samsung. So, it chose to join hands with Leica.

During the cooperation period, Leica was responsible for lens design and photo color adjustment, giving Huawei's photos the iconic "German flavor" of Leica - rich colors and delicate image quality.

The back of Huawei's flagship phones also bore the "LEICA" logo, instantly elevating the brand's status.

The first jointly developed phone, the Huawei P9, sold over 12 million units globally, a 152% surge compared to the previous model.

After that, almost all of Huawei's P Series and Mate Series flagship phones continued the cooperation with Leica. The products were priced high, successfully enabling Huawei to enter the global high-end mobile phone market.

Meanwhile, Leica was quickly recognized by the general public through Huawei's channels.

In March 2022, the cooperation between Huawei and Leica expired, and the two parties did not renew the contract.

Two months later, Xiaomi immediately took over, and the cooperation was deeper than during the Huawei era.

Leica's engineers directly joined Xiaomi and participated in the entire process of mobile phone R & D, from lens design and sensor selection to photo algorithm optimization.

At the end of last year, the cooperation between the two parties was upgraded again. For the first time, Leica authorized Xiaomi 17 Ultra to use its most core "red logo" to launch a Leica - branded phone.

The original price of the 1TB version of this phone was 8,999 yuan, and it was once resold for up to 30,000 yuan on Xianyu.

Over the past four years, the two parties have jointly launched more than 20 models of phones, directly helping Xiaomi transform from a mid - to low - end brand to a high - end imaging flagship, competing directly with Apple and Huawei. Both of them have reaped huge profits.

DJI Acquires Hasselblad

Actually, before this, DJI, the domestic drone giant, had already acquired another century - old brand - Hasselblad.

Hasselblad is a Swedish brand. It is most famous for the fact that during the Apollo moon landing, astronauts used Hasselblad cameras to take the first photos of humans landing on the moon. Therefore, Hasselblad is known as the "No. 1 brand of space cameras".

In 2015, DJI first made a strategic investment in Hasselblad, acquiring a small number of shares and joining Hasselblad's board of directors;

In 2017, DJI further increased its stake and finally held 75% of Hasselblad's shares, becoming the absolute controlling shareholder. The total investment cost was 1.6 billion yuan.

After the acquisition, DJI provided engineering and technical support to Hasselblad, helping them launch the more portable X1 - D medium - format camera. At the same time, DJI also applied Hasselblad's top - notch imaging technology to its own drones, such as the imaging system of the Mavic 2 Pro drone.

Moreover, DJI did not interfere with Hasselblad's daily operations, retaining Hasselblad's Swedish headquarters and core R & D team. The two parties carried out exchanges at the technical level, achieving a win - win situation.

If HSG can acquire part of Leica's equity this time, then there will be one more high - end camera brand controlled by a Chinese enterprise.

For this century - old brand, like Hasselblad, it can rely on the funds and channels of domestic companies to get out of the current dilemma of sluggish growth and continue to innovate.

However, the acquisition is still in the negotiation stage. Let's wait and see what the final result will be.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Tech Daily Push" (ID: apptoday), author: Huang Wanyi. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.