Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Corporation (Headquarters in Osaka, Japan) and Leica Camera AG (headquartered in Wetzler, Germany) today announced that they have reached an agreement for a new comprehensive and expanded business alliance. Both companies are committing to increase the collaboration of their core competencies and to develop new technologies and solutions resulting from this collaboration under the name of “L² Technology ” (L squared Technology) which symbolically uses the two “L“ of “LEICA” and “LUMIX” in their marketing activities going forward.
L² Technology will unify the strengths of two brands, LEICA and LUMIX.
It will be a symbol of the collaboration by combining the technologies and know-how of the two companies in the fields of new camera and lens products and next-generation software and creating technologies and solutions that deliver new value in the new era. Through this collaboration, both companies will be able to maximize the synergies by Leica’s optical and imaging technology and Panasonic’s video and digital technology that have been cultivated over many years and jointly explore new creativity and expressive power. We will develop innovative L² Technology that will create a new imaging world.
Both Leica and Panasonic will jointly invest in new technologies that can be incorporated into camera and lens products and will incorporate mutually developed technologies into each other’s LEICA and LUMIX products to further enhance their product capabilities. Going forward, each brand will utilize L² Technology, which is designed to open up new possibilities for creative camera users, in their marketing activities in order to develop a collaborative system over the long term.
Commenting on the announcement today, Yuki Kusumi, CEO of Panasonic Holdings Corporations said, “I am very pleased to have a broad partnership with Leica Camera. Through joint development and marketing with Leica, we will be able to provide products that delight as many customers as possible. This is a major turning point that will undoubtedly lead to the development of the imaging business and especially exciting for Panasonic Holdings. I personally can’t wait to start using the new LUMIX with L² Technology.”
Furthermore, Akira Toyoshima, CEO of Panasonic Entertainment & Communication Co. Ltd. expressed, “With the arrival of an era in which photos and videos are shared globally in real-time, cameras are required to have the capability to create more impressive and breath-taking expression. I have always been impressed by the high picture quality and the picture-making philosophy that Leica has developed over its long history. I am very pleased and excited to continue working with Leica to develop technology that will enable people around the world to share their emotions.”
Matthias Harsch, CEO of Leica Camera AG adds “We have been working with Panasonic for many years in a spirit of partnership and trust, and their extensive expertise is undisputed. The combination of our competencies in L2 Technology is another milestone in the partnership and proves that the best way to meet today’s challenges in the camera market is not to segment and specialize, but to deepen capabilities in order to jointly create solutions for the future.”
History of collaboration
The cooperation between Leica Camera AG and Panasonic Corporation has existed since August 2000. Initially, the companies had signed a cooperation agreement for lenses of digital, and audio-visual equipment, and in 2001 the decision was made to cooperate in the digital camera sector as well. Since then, the companies have steadily expanded their technological cooperation. In 2018, together with Sigma, the “L-Mount Alliance” was founded, an unprecedented type of cooperation that enables Panasonic, Sigma, and, since 2021, Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH to use the L-mount standard developed by Leica for their own developments and thus also offer cameras as well as optics with this lens mount.