Meade files for bankruptcy !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Merlin66]

https://www.ocregister.com/2019/12/05/irvine-telescope-maker-meade-files-for-bankruptcy-after-losing-antitrust-case/

This could be interesting!

[blink138]

blimey!

[FlashDrive]

I'm not surprised Ken .... I used to have Meade LX90 bought from Bintel about 8 years ago ( not knocking Bintel ), within 4 months things were playing up on it ..Electronics

Never bought another Meade Product again....stayed right away form them.

I think there Quality Control isn't good ...but this is my opinion only

Col...

[Saturnine]

Interesting news but I can't read the article because I use an add blocker and so many sites don't like that .

[Kal]

Irvine telescope maker Meade Instruments has filed for bankruptcy protection just days after its Chinese owner lost an antitrust case alleging a conspiracy to squeeze a competitor out of business.

Meade, bought by Ningbo Sunny Electronic Co. Ltd. in 2013, filed Wednesday, Dec. 4, in U.S. Bankruptcy Court’s Central District, claiming debts of $10 million to $50 million. A Meade affiliated company, Sunny Optics, filed for bankruptcy protection, too.

The filing includes an unspecified and disputed debt to Orion Telescopes & Binoculars, a Watsonville-based telescope marketer well-known in the sky-watching industry.

According to Law360, a California federal jury on Nov. 26 awarded Orion $16.8 million after it found that Ningbo Sunny, through Meade, was fixing telescope prices for American consumers with a manufacturing monopoly created after it bought Meade. Orion’s attorney, Noah Hagey, told Law360 damages could be tripled.

“Orion has bravely led the charge against supplier collusion, and its example should serve as a path forward for other brands beset by this sort of unlawful conduct,” Hagey was quoted.

Meade, a big name in the home telescope market, fell on hard times a decade ago as foreign-made products scooped up market share from domestic makers. Whatever business was left then shrank during the Great Recession.

Orion had tried to acquire the then financially ailing Meade but was outbid first by another Asian manufacturer and finally by Ningbo Sunny. Orion alleges that after the Meade merger with its Chinese buyer, Orion’s ability to buy products from the combined entities ended.

[gary]

Hi Ken,

Thanks for posting this.

I think a more interesting heading would have been that Orion won
the antitrust case.

Meade had been owned by the Chinese company Ningbo Sunny since
2013.

Its financial woes go back at least to 2006 and I was continually flabbergasted
how it managed to stay listed on the NASDAQ. Their quarterly return reports
were nearly always bad news and seemed to continually defy the laws of gravity.

In the US, filing for bankruptcy is not necessarily the end of the world
for a company like it is in Australia. By filing for Chapter 11, companies
can stave off creditors for a short while until they get their house in order.

But it may be that Ningbo Sunny, having lost the lawsuit, will simply
cut-off its two arms, namely Meade, and Sunny Optical,
in an attempt to try and limit their liability.

Going before a US federal jury on an antitrust lawsuit between an
American company and a Chinese company in the current political
climate may not have endeared Ningbo Sunny to the jurors.

[billdan]

Just read this on Cloudy Nights (near the last message of page 4).

"Interestingly, we here at the scope shop have received a lawyer's letter from Orion saying that we should not send payment to Celestron (Synta) to any off-shore accounts so that the money stays in the US and can be paid out to Orion."

https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/656211-orion-suing-meadesunny/page-4#entry9815308

[gary]

This 30th September 2019 US District Court document in the case
of Orion vs Ningbo Sunny et. al. makes for an interesting read.

Orion and Ningbo requested a summary judgement from the court -
that is, a request for a judge to make a decision on the case based on
the facts presented without having to go to a jury trial.

The document provides a summary of the conspiracy alleged by Orion
that involved Ningbo Sunny/Meade and Synta/Celestron.

https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/telescopes.pdf

[multiweb]

I recall Celestron/Meade merger back in the days had been stopped as well? Today would be a different story.

[gary]

Hi Marc,

That is correct. Tasco had acquired Celestron and in turn in 2002 it tried
to acquire Meade but it was overturned by the federal trade commission.

[OICURMT]

Chapter 11...


They'll restructure and return
They'll settle with Orion in the process
They'll raise their prices

[casstony]

I wonder how this affects Australian suppliers of Meade scopes?

[Wavytone]

I’d suggest Meade sales tanked, some time ago. And they’ll be close to zero now.

Just looking at ads here, on AM and CN it’s ~10+ Celestrons to 1 Meade. And big maks (7” and larger) have all but disappeared.

Soon the only choice for punters will be Celestron/Skywatcher and very little else.

[nsavage]

The last email I got from Skywatcher had “Sky-Watcher Australia (Meade Australia)” in the business name. Interestingly they have stopped responding to me also. I wonder if this will have an impact on Skywatcher?

[raymo]

At least for the time being we can still get the SW 7" Mak.
raymo

[gaseous]

In my experience, Skywatcher have always been rather diabolical when it comes to replying to emails, so it may not just be the current kerfuffle.

[Peter Ward]

Not the first time Meade have gone bust or have been in court. I lamented the day they bought out Coronado. The pre-Meade etalons were superb, but the current crop is rather hit and miss.

[ngcles]

Hi All,

Like many of the people here who've been part of the amateur astronomy scene for some time, I am hardly surprised at this "development". If the number of ads and pages of ads in various popular-level astronomical magazines is any guide, the slide began about 22 years ago.

Truth is, they have alternated between serious and diabolical financial trouble for 15-20 years now and a combination of high prices, high labour costs (in the U.S), crap QC, poor customer relations, mediocre products (considering what you pay) along with the rather short periods they support even flagship products with spare parts means the chickens have finally come home to roost.

To be brutally honest none of the Meade telescopes I've looked through over the years have managed to actually thrill me. I spent a lot of time with many of their Schmidt-Cassegrainans at Sydney Observatory and save one (and only one) they were routinely, at best, mildly disappointing. That one exception was the second 40cm LX200 in the north dome that had a very good Schmidt-Cassegrainian optic set, but still way too many electronic and software gremlins and break-downs.

C'est la vie time I think for Meade.


Best,

L.

[PeterM]

http://www.company7.com/meade/history.html
https://www.f1telescopes.co.uk/articles/meade/the-history-of-meade-telescopes/

An interesting history indeed....I wonder if any settlement negotiations with Orion might lead to them becoming the new owner of Meade?
Optically my 12inch LX200R made in USA around 2007 (pre ACF name & Mexican made ) is indeed excellent. In saying that the Mexican 12inch ACF I bought here 9 years ago has also proven to be a very good performer.

[Merlin66]

I used Meade SCT’s for many years from the LX5 through the LX200 and 8” to 12”.
Optically (and tested) very good, certainly no issues.

[GrahamL]

I seem to remember renumeration to execs was above revenue around the time of the last purge, Lots more competion in the marketplace now .