Meade Files Bankruptcy

[515bonner]

See details at:
https://www.ocregister.com/2019/12/05/i ... rust-case/

[helicon]

A sad story. It appears that the damages awarded to Orion as well as long-term debt will make Meade's operating as a going concern very difficult. Of course, they may be able to reorganize in the bankruptcy process as creditors will have to accept whatever Meade can payout as a remedy.
So we may not have heard the last from Meade.

[Bigzmey]

Bummer. I hope they will manage to turn things around.

[Star Rider]

Maybe Scott Roberts from Explore Scientific can go in and save the company. Very sad though.

Clear skies,
Bob

[Ylem]

Interesting and sad.
A few thoughts, first I had no idea Orion tried to buy Meade, I remember the blocked merger with Celestron.
It’s most likely not the end of Meade, it’s biggest asset is it’s name, and the Chinese have very deep pockets.

I worked for Lionel Trains for many years, samething. Many bankruptcies, but it has that household name.

Wonder what Orion will do with the settlement? Would they now want to make an offer for Meade? That would be awkward...

[Lady Fraktor]

Orion did not try to buy Meade, they were suing Meade and Celestron for colluding against them.
This is why many times you would see a product from Orion costing one price and Meade or Celestron selling the same equipment for quite a bit less.
Since it seems Sunny has also filed for protection it will be interesting to see how Explore Scientific and Bresser come through this as they are affiliated with Sunny.

Synta/ Celestron settled with Orion out of court last year or the year before.

[Piet Le Roux]

They did try to buy them:
"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."

I don't think Meade should survive this: The market has become too small for 4 main players to survive. As a Meade fan and customer I have to be realistic : Their goto software is 20 years old with bugs that is also 20 years old although they made good products (I have 20 year old Autostar controller with updated firmware that controls my 2018 LX90 perfectly) but there is no new development. If I could get a buyer for all my Meade stuff I would be looking at the Orion 10" F8 RC with (unbelievably) an equatorial mount!

[helicon]

Interesting and sad.
A few thoughts, first I had no idea Orion tried to buy Meade, I remember the blocked merger with Celestron.
It’s most likely not the end of Meade, it’s biggest asset is it’s name, and the Chinese have very deep pockets.

I worked for Lionel Trains for many years, samething. Many bankruptcies, but it has that household name.

Wonder what Orion will do with the settlement? Would they now want to make an offer for Meade? That would be awkward...

Cool. My nephew loves Lionels. For many that would be a dream job. And I think the Meade name/brand will be valuable to whomever resurrects the business. The firm where I worked in the early 2000's sent me to do some due diligence on Meade in preparation for a buyout offer for the business. We ended up not making an offer. At the time Meade was still a publicly traded company on Nasdaq, but the share price had undergone a steep decline. They also had opened a factory in Mexico, which is now shuttered.

[yobbo89]

who else is making sct telescopes that i don't know off ? celestron and meade is all i've ever heard off, i picked a meade scope because of price, but it looks like celestron is really in on the game with product diversity and quality , they have the f2 range and more addons.

meade is alright ,their Q.A is going out the window though.

[Lola Bruce]

I hope the good optical tube designs become Orion property and Meade goes away. The way I and many others have been treated they do not deserve to continue. Meade was a pioneer in our hobby and should be remembered fondly but that is not the Meade of today.

Bruce

[Lowjiber]

...Their goto software is 20 years old with bugs that is also 20 years old ...

Amen! Fifteen years ago, I threw my Meade goto rig off a cliff into the Pacific Ocean in Ft. Bragg, California and haven't allowed anything with the Meade name on my property since. I guess I must have been ahead of the curve.

[Richard]

Quite sad but honestly with LP increasing every year how long before everyone just uses a computer ? I am in RSA at the moment and their is power cuts all the time again which makes a big difference , one can see stars again .
I only had the DS version of Meade terrible

[yobbo89]

a news feed came up on my phone today about this. they say they will still honour warranty ectt.

[turonrambar]

thanks for your post.

kip

[kt4hx]

Never owned anything with a "Meade" label on it, so really don't have an opinion about them. But from what I have read they did seem to be in a downhill posture for some time now. That happens sometimes with companies as internal changes occur. But usually others pick up any slack that remains when someone fails.

[pakarinen]

I have to admit that I really like my 80mm Meade Adventure Scope, although I guess it's really not Meade-specific. It's not big or pretty, but it works pretty well in my circumstances and it was under $100. Since I bought it from AMZ, I figured I could return it pretty easily if it turned out to be a dog; no need to deal with customer service at Meade.

[helicon]

Meade probably won't be able to pay the damages ($$$) awarded to Orion, so most likely it will end up in bankruptcy or an ABC (Assignment for the Benefit of Creditors). I imagine after the process that someone will acquire the brand name and any other "goodwill" and slap it on the side of some scopes.

[Shorty Barlow]

Does this mean my Meade Plossls will become collectors items? lol

[DozerBolt]

Yikes! So I'm guessing THAT's why I just got a super deal on my Meade EclipseView 82mm FirstScope, and that it had been listed as "discontinued". Still, I'm writing a review on that puppy as we speak - it's a terrific beginner scope and it comes with "the kitchen sink"...