Interview with Lee Ting-Mo, CEO Universal Electronics Industries / Holga

[Henning Serger]

Hello,

here is an Interview with the CEO of the company which produce the Holga line of cameras:

http://www.hktdc.com/info/mi/a/hkti...Trader-International-Edition/Vintage-View.htm

The current production is more than 200,000 cameras p.a., and they expand their business to mainland China (PRC) [ BTW: Lomography CEO M. Fiegl recently said in an interview the Lomographic Society sold about 500,000 of their Lomo cameras in 2011].

Three years ago (09/2009) a long Interview with Mr. Lee has been published by German news magazine Spiegel online.
The main statements in this interview:

- the Holga was originally intended as a photo camera for mainland Chinese photographers, introduced 1982
- but the Holga failed in this market because Chinese photographers bought modern Japanese 35mm (compact) cameras instead
- the breakthrough for the Holga happened about ten years later, when young photographers and some artists in the USA and Europe discovered it; and especially the LSI (Lomographic Society International) made the Holga popular in the nineties
- since it's introduction 1982 up to 2009 more than one million of the medium format Holga models has been sold
- after the success in USA, Japan and Europe now there is an increasing demand from China as well.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Bob Carnie]

My wife owns about 10 of these amazing cameras.

Hello,

here is an Interview with the CEO of the company which produce the Holga line of cameras:

http://www.hktdc.com/info/mi/a/hkti...Trader-International-Edition/Vintage-View.htm

The current production is more than 200,000 cameras p.a., and they expand their business to mainland China (PRC) [ BTW: Lomography CEO M. Fiegl recently said in an interview the Lomographic Society sold about 500,000 of their Lomo cameras in 2011].

Three years ago (09/2009) a long Interview with Mr. Lee has been published by German news magazine Spiegel online.
The main statements in this interview:

- the Holga was originally intended as a photo camera for mainland Chinese photographers, introduced 1982
- but the Holga failed in this market because Chinese photographers bought modern Japanese 35mm (compact) cameras instead
- the breakthrough for the Holga happened about ten years later, when young photographers and some artists in the USA and Europe discovered it; and especially the LSI (Lomographic Society International) made the Holga popular in the nineties
- since it's introduction 1982 up to 2009 more than one million of the medium format Holga models has been sold
- after the success in USA, Japan and Europe now there is an increasing demand from China as well.

Best regards,
Henning

 

[Dinesh]

My wife owns about 10 of these amazing cameras.

She needs something to take her mind off of the really horrendous situation she finds herself in!

 

[Bob Carnie]

So a shot from the cheap seats... We needed to get those cheap plastic lenses as every time you get in the picture the lens cracks on our cameras.

She needs something to take her mind off of the really horrendous situation she finds herself in!

 

[thebanana]

So a shot from the cheap seats... We needed to get those cheap plastic lenses as every time you get in the picture the lens cracks on our cameras.

Bob, you have quite a cross to bear, living so close to the peanut gallery.

 

[Yashinoff]

I wonder what the profit margins are like for these Holgas.

 

[bsdunek]

My wife owns about 10 of these amazing cameras.

Truly GAS! I only own two - guess it's time for more.

 

[MDR]

I congratulate your wife for her good taste. Did she buy the same model or different models Glass lens, plastic lens, flash, without flash.

And the more important question is she a member on this site or is she smarter than that and shoots with her Holgas instead of posting on a forum.

Dominik

 

[RattyMouse]

The film shops I go to in China have all kinds of Holga's in stock and usually when I am there I can see several customers looking them over. I think that there must be a lot of people interested in these cameras in China.

 

[Newt_on_Swings]

The film shops I go to in China have all kinds of Holga's in stock and usually when I am there I can see several customers looking them over. I think that there must be a lot of people interested in these cameras in China.

I saw a bunch over there as well when I went a few weeks ago. They are pretty into lomo there, I also met a few film shooters too. All the cameras you see such as in a lomography store and the like are there, aswell as lots of the instax cams, and even this bigger sweeping panoramic model (kinda like a nooblex, not the spinner) was there though i forget the name.

I met a bunch of new friends and gave them film as gifts, things they have never seen (and admittedly don't have here in the stats much anymore) like plus-x in 120, tmax p3200, ektar 25, agfa pan 250. They went bonkers for that stuff lol.

 

[Jeff Searust]

- since it's introduction 1982 up to 2009 more than one million of the medium format Holga models has been sold

A previous interview said it was well over a million by 2001

 

[Henning Serger]

A previous interview said it was well over a million by 2001

Hello Jeff,

interesting, do you have a source for this interview?
The number of over one million by 2009 is quoted from the article I've mentioned in my original post which was published in the German news magazine Spiegel online.

Best regards,
Henning