Carl Zeiss Sports Optics to close shop

[Mr.BR]

Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH has announced that the production of optics for hunting and nature observation in Wetzlar is facing closure. Seventy employees will be affected.

Wetzlar. Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH will cease production in Wetzlar by the end of 2026. The company announced this in a statement on Tuesday. According to Zeiss, approximately 70 jobs are affected by this decision. Employees were also informed of the move on Tuesday. Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH is considered the world's leading manufacturer of binoculars, riflescopes, and spotting scopes. It is a subsidiary of Carl Zeiss AG.

Company speaks of “ongoing economic losses”
The challenging geopolitical and economic conditions are having varying effects on the Zeiss Group's business units. Demand for analog binoculars, spotting scopes, and riflescopes in the premium segment is declining, according to the statement explaining the reasons for the upcoming closure at the Wetzlar site.

“Price and competitive pressure, the deteriorating consumer climate, the disruptive shift to digital products, and the structural cost disadvantage in Germany are leading to ongoing economic losses in the production of optics for hunting and nature observation in Wetzlar,” explains Joachim Kuss from Corporate Communications at Zeiss Photonics & Optics.

The production of binoculars, spotting scopes, and riflescopes in Wetzlar will therefore only continue until the end of 2026. However, Carl Zeiss Sports Optics will continue to be represented at the Wetzlar site with customer service, logistics, and quality assurance.

"The employees in the Wetzlar production facility are doing an excellent job, and everyone involved has fought to ensure that we can continue producing here in the future," said Torsten Scheidt, Managing Director of Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH, in the statement. However, the market changes, particularly in recent years, are so significant "that we cannot maintain the current value chain." In the coming months, discussions will be held with employee representatives to discuss how the affected employees can be actively supported and how the job cuts can be implemented in a socially acceptable manner.

The company's press release makes it clear that the focus in Wetzlar is on semiconductor manufacturing: Zeiss is represented at the site with its Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (SMT) division, which has grown significantly in recent years. A second production site for the semiconductor division is currently being built in Wetzlar. The so-called multifunctional factory in Dillfeld will expand production and development capacity by approximately 12,000 square meters. Upon completion in 2026, Zeiss SMT in Wetzlar will employ approximately 500 people.

 

[ma smith]

Does anyone know if the whole of Zeiss sports optics closing, or if this just means manufacturing operations in Germany will close. My understanding is models like the s3 vs s5 were outsourced to Japan. Does this mean the s5 is history but the s3 will continue?

Or, will Zeiss be withdrawing entirely from the market?

 

[beetroot]

So sounds like they wont be producing optics themselves anymore, but the wont be shutting down the sport optics division of Zeiss.

I wonder if they have found the cheaper OEM produced products are selling better than their own, with the higher end market having more competition with less customers.
For rifle scopes it would seem the Japanese made Zeiss S3 is considerably more popular than the German made S5, for example.

 

[Mr.BR]

In any case world premier binocular and riflescope production being shut down , Honestly while it sounds like production site , the stuff made in Japan is only tiny part of their model lineup .

Here in Europe hunting for decades ran on high end stuff , no one hunts with Cabelas 699$ value pack ,but i reckon younger generations are not as much into engraved rifles and mega optics plus , easing of legislation permiting NV & IR optic use in Hunting make the twilight factor less important.

 

[beetroot]

easing of legislation permiting NV & IR optic use in Hunting make the twilight factor less important.

It was interesting that they pointed out digital optics be a major competitior.
I imagine a lot of people who would've bought a high end day time scope have instead spent the money on a thermal scope, which Zeiss obviously can't compete with.

 

[Mr.BR]

It was interesting that they pointed out digital optics be a major competitior.
I imagine a lot of people who would've bought a high end day time scope have instead spent the money on a thermal scope, which Zeiss obviously can't compete with.

For many years NV and IR optic use in European hunting was mostly illegal , now its not and relatively affordable options cut into zeiss briliant optics that were meant to excel in dusk and dawn conditions , specific light conditions that last literally minutes.

 

[ma smith]

The other issue is Hendsolt was spun-off from Zeiss a couple years ago, if my memory is correct. Hendsolt had a lot of the high-end brand equity due to .mil contracts, if they were going to seriously compete with S&B, TT, ZCO etc.

That's also presumably where things like integrated electronics, lrf, NV, thermal etc would have had a home. If you look at current Hensoldt products today, making "daylight optics for bolt guns" seems a bit too pedestrian to get anyone's attention over there.

 

[Ikeman83]

source?

 

[ma smith]

source?

German language

Wetzlar: Carl Zeiss Sports Optics will Fertigung einstellen

Die Produktion von Optiken für Jagd und Naturbeobachtung in Wetzlar steht absehbar vor dem Aus. Das kündigt die Carl Zeiss Sports Optics GmbH an. Betroffen sind 70 Mitarbeiter.

www.mittelhessen.de

 

[Baron23]

Yeah, they are closing the Wetzlar facility but its not clear from the announcement if they have other facilities manf these products (or will have outsourced manf as mentioned in this thread) and are just closing this one or if they are getting out of these product lines altogether.

 

[Mr.BR]

We will see how far reaching this is , note they had production like for conqest scopes in Hungary like S&B ,but even that one cased the riflescope buisiness and is only making camera objectives now ,will be interesting to see the knock on effects as much of euro scope makers use Zeiss and their companies Schott as suppliers for their scopes. We might be seeing a Nikon moment , full hard stop on riflescopes and binos .

 

[Basic user]

The Japanese consistently undercut everyone. I knew this would happen. I knew it was the end when they started making their products in Japan. This told me their profit margins were suffering.