Meade Instruments
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| Meade Instruments Corporation | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public (NASDAQ: MEAD) |
| Founded | 1972 |
| Headquarters | Irvine, California, USA |
| Key people | Harry L. Casari, Chairman of the Board Steve Muellner, CEO ($275,962 Annual Pay) Donald Finkle, Senior VP ($117,654 Annual Pay) Paul Ross, CFO Steven Murdock, Director ($147,117 Annual Pay)[1][2][3] |
| Industry | Manufacturing |
| Products | Optical / mechanical devices |
| Website | http://www.meade.com |
Meade Instruments Corporation (aka Meade) is a company based in Irvine, California, that manufactures and imports telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, CCD cameras and telescope accessories for the consumer market.
Contents |
[edit] Origins and history
Founded in 1972 by John Diebel, Meade started out as a mail order seller of small refracting telescopes and telescope accessories. He soon branched out into larger reflecting telescopes and in 1978 ventured into the Schmidt-Cassegrain that up to that time had been dominated by Celestron Corporation.[4] Meade has continued grow to the point of arguably being the worlds largest telescope manufacturer. Meade has a long history of litigation with other companies over infringement of their patents, particularly with its once bitter rival Celestron.
[edit] Products
Products produced by Meade include[5][6]:
- Binoculars
- Microscopes
- Spotting scopes
- Achromatic Refractors (5 and 6-inch)
- Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes (8 to 12 inches – LX-90 models only)
- Schmidt-Newtonian telescopes (6 to 10 inches).
- LX200-ACF
- ETX series Maksutov-Cassegrain telescopes ranging in size from 90mm to 125mm. (see: Meade ETX telescope)
- "Truss-tube" Dobsonian telescopes (currently 8, 10, 12 and a 16-inch model).
- mySKY, a multi-media GPS device guiding users to the sky.
Many Meade telescopes come on alt-azimuth and equatorial mounts with computerized locating of astronomical objects as well as mounts that will aim themselves at any given object (a technology commonly called "GoTo").
Other accessories produced by Meade include the series 5000 eyepieces that are comparable in construction to those of Chester, New York-based Tele Vue Optical's "Nagler" (82-degree field of view), "Panoptic" (68-degree field of view), and "Radian" (60-degree field of view) eyepieces.
Meade also sells under the "Meade" name imported low to moderate cost reflectors and refractors intended for the beginner retail market.
In 2004 Meade acquired Coronado Filters from founder and designer David Lunt,[7][8] who produce an extensive range of specialty telescopes that allow views of the sun in Hydrogen-Alpha, and more recently Calcium K line wavelengths.
[edit] Meade lawsuit
In November, 2006, three unnamed plaintiffs, including a manufacturer of traditional Ritchey-Chrétien telescopes, filed a civil lawsuit against Meade, several dealerships, and other individuals in federal court (New York Southern District). The complaint was against Meade advertising their RCX400 and LX200R models as "Ritchey-Chrétien." The plaintiffs claimed these models did not use true Ritchey-Chrétien optics and therefore Meade and its retailers were committing false advertising infringing on the plaintiff's market.[9] In January 2008, Meade settled, with a "small" amount paid to the plaintiffs and the requirement to rename the affected products, not using any initials that might suggest Ritchey-Chretien.[10]
[edit] Financial problems
Meade has had financial problems in the past and has survived with the help of its founder, John Diebel purchasing back the company.[11] However, Meade in the past few years has run into another round of financial woes, since Diebel sold the company again. The current CEO since May 2006, Steve Muellner[12] has announced various bad news for the company since he has had the lead role for Meade. Meade's Irvine, California manufacturing plant has closed and moved to Mexico as well as a majority of the administrative positions were cut.[13][14] Meade's customer service line (already low rated by the BBB)[15] has also been affected by shorter operating hours and the elimination of the callback option.[16][17] Meade is also looking at other options for the uncertain future of the company.[18][19] No matter what the future holds for the company, Muellner and some of the board members have signed an agreement to cover themselves financially.[20] In April 2008, Meade sold two of its three non-telescope product brands (Weaver/Redfield) to two companies for a total of $8 million. However, as compensation for divestiture of these two brands, out going VP of Sales, Robert Davis, received a $100,000 bonus from the company.[21][22]
[edit] References
- ^ MEAD: Profile for MEADE INSTRUMENTS - Yahoo! Finance
- ^ Meade Instruments Corp (MEAD.O) Officers & Directors | Stocks | Reuters.com
- ^ Meade Instruments Corp. (MEAD): Executive Profile
- ^ MeadeScopes.info: Meade Instruments, Then and Now
- ^ Meade Telescopes, Meade, Mead, Telescopes by Meade, Meade Instruments
- ^ Meadescopes.net; The Optical History of Meade Telescopes
- ^ Sky & Telescope: David Lunt (1942-2005)
- ^ David Lunt biography, Solar Filter designer
- ^ Tom’s Astronomy Blog » Blog Archive » The Meade Lawsuit
- ^ Meade Instruments, Star Instruments and RC Optical Systems Agree to Settlement: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance
- ^ Company Seven | Meade Instruments company history page
- ^ Meade Instruments Corp (MEAD.O) Officers & Directors | Stocks | Reuters.com
- ^ Meade Instruments to cut 120 jobs | Reuters
- ^ Meade Instruments Announces Further Restructuring - AOL Money & Finance
- ^ Company Report
- ^ Meade Instruments Corporation - Contact Information
- ^ Meade customer service phone line
- ^ Meade hires Robert W. Baird to review strategic options | Reuters
- ^ MEAD: Summary for MEADE INSTRUMENTS - Yahoo! Finance
- ^ Executive Retention Agreement
- ^ Material Definitive Agreement, Bonus Agreement
- ^ Change in Directors or Principal Officers
