How successful were Hasselblad products in 2024?

Based on their revenue and profits, I would say the new products Hasselblad launched in 2023 and 2024 were well received. 2023 was the first full year of X2D 100C availability and, in addition to a couple of X2D kits introduced that year, the XCD 28P was also introduced. Last year saw the introduction of the 907X & CFV 100C, as well as another X2D kit, and new XCD 25V, XCD 20–35E, and XCD 75P lenses.

A note regarding the 2024 pretax profit being higher than the operating profit... Their stated profit before income tax includes financial income minus financial expenses. In 2024 Hasselblad had net finance income of just under $1 million ($960,000) to add to their bottom line.

I think it will be interesting to see how the X2D II and new zoom contribute to their growth and overall success and what new products are in development which we have yet to see...

That's more uptake and turnaround under DJI than I expected. 8 x 'Operating Profit' increase in 5 years after a long continious decline is impressive. Gone are the Lunar Days, thanks to some real work, and thanks to design, innovation and engineering. Like the brand or not - things start looking up if you read the numbers.

Thanks for sharing!

I was one of the biggest naysayers of the Hasselblad brand but this makes me beyond happy to see that its made a big turnaround. This report and the new X2D2 with its features and aggressive pricing gives me confidence that the brand is about real innovation and bringing cutting edge technology to consumers. Competition is good and Hasselblad made a bold move in the MF space. Thanks for sharing this.

Go Hasselblad!

Here's a graphic which shows Hasselblad's corporate structure... (Sorry about the poor graphic resolution. It's a screenshot from a PDF annual report which had been scanned at low resolution before being converted to PDF).


Hasselblad Corporate Structure

The graphic is fuzzy and hard to read but here are the details and recent history...

Victor Hasselblad AB is Located in Lindholmen Science Park in Gothenburg Sweden where product development, camera manufacturing, lens design, administration, marketing, and service are headquartered. Hasselblad has subsidiaries in Denmark (software development), USA, UK, Germany, France, China, and Japan according to their most recent public financial statement (2024).

Hasselblad is directly owned by Hasselblad Holding S.à r.l. in Luxembourg. The holding company was established by German private equity firm Ventizz when they acquired Hasselblad in 2011. Hasselblad Holding S.à r.l. in Luxembourg has been directly owned since January 2017 by DJI Ventures II-A Company Limited, an investment entity located in the British Virgin Islands, who retained the holding company structure previously established when they acquired Hasselblad.

That company is indirectly owned by DJI International Company Limited in the Cayman Islands. That Cayman Islands entity is an international consortium of investors — including major equity firms in the U.S. and Europe like Accel, Kleiner Perkins, and others who provided much of the financial capital which fueled the rapid growth of DJI — in addition to the major stake held by DJI's founder and initial investors in China. It's that investment group which also indirectly owns DJI in China and Japan thru a Hong Kong subsidiary IFlight Technology Company Limited. DJI International is the ultimate parent company of all the various subsidiaries it controls.

Hasselblad is a Swedish company with international business connections thru its own subsidiaries and as a subsidiary itself of a group of international investors. It shares executive board management connections with DJI in China. The president of Hasselblad's executive board is Christina (Xiaonan) Zhang. She has a degree in business management and accounting. She worked as an audit manager at Deloitte before being recruited in 2013, by DJI's founder, to help manage their rapid growth. At DJI she is currently Senior Director, Corporate Strategy & Communication. Hasselblad engineers in Sweden collaborate with DJI engineers in Japan and China to advance product development for both companies.

Since Victor sold his namesake company in 1976, Hasselblad has been owned by a variety of entities in various countries including Sweden, Switzerland, UK, Hong Kong, and Germany. As is still true, Hasselblad has always remained a Swedish company headquartered and operating in the same city and retaining some employees and managers for decades across multiple owners based in multiple countries and continents.

TechTalk2 said:

Based on their revenue and profits, I would say the new products Hasselblad launched in 2023 and 2024 were well received. 2023 was the first full year of X2D 100C availability and, in addition to a couple of X2D kits introduced that year, the XCD 28P was also introduced. Last year saw the introduction of the 907X & CFV 100C, as well as another X2D kit, and new XCD 25V, XCD 20–35E, and XCD 75P lenses.

A note regarding the 2024 pretax profit being higher than the operating profit... Their stated profit before income tax includes financial income minus financial expenses. In 2024 Hasselblad had net finance income of just under $1 million ($960,000) to add to their bottom line.

I think it will be interesting to see how the X2D II and new zoom contribute to their growth and overall success and what new products are in development which we have yet to see...

Click to expand...

Remarkably low tax paid figure - loss carryforwards?

Doppler9000 said:

TechTalk2 said:

Based on their revenue and profits, I would say the new products Hasselblad launched in 2023 and 2024 were well received. 2023 was the first full year of X2D 100C availability and, in addition to a couple of X2D kits introduced that year, the XCD 28P was also introduced. Last year saw the introduction of the 907X & CFV 100C, as well as another X2D kit, and new XCD 25V, XCD 20–35E, and XCD 75P lenses.

A note regarding the 2024 pretax profit being higher than the operating profit... Their stated profit before income tax includes financial income minus financial expenses. In 2024 Hasselblad had net finance income of just under $1 million ($960,000) to add to their bottom line.

I think it will be interesting to see how the X2D II and new zoom contribute to their growth and overall success and what new products are in development which we have yet to see...

Click to expand...

Remarkably low tax paid figure - loss carryforwards?

Click to expand...

Yes. Tax for the year was $9.1 million before deducting previously unrecognized deferred tax assets and losses carried forward. The losses were so huge during the 5-1/2 years of previous ownership by a German private equity company that there are still plenty of future opportunities for tax reduction due to losses in prior years.

The good news is that as of year's end 2023 their retained earnings are back in the black. At the end of 2024 retained earnings totaled $47 million and appear to be on a good trajectory to continue accumulating. They are operating with very little debt and those managing the money appear to be good at it.