And according to reporting by Bloomberg News, Meade now intends to sell itself. The text of Meade Instruments’ bankruptcy filing claims debts between $10 million and $50 million. However, the amount owed could triple because of the Sherman Antitrust Act, bringing the total closer to $50 million. According to the jury’s verdict - linked to from Orion’s website - Meade owes the retailer at least $16.8 million. 5 ruled that Meade and Ningbo Sunny must pay damages to Orion. The other company settled with Orion before the suit was filed and is not named in the complaint.Īfter the jury’s verdict, a U.S. In a legal complaint filed back in 2016, Orion accused Meade’s parent company of working with another major Chinese telescope manufacturer to fix prices and monopolize the American telescope market. “You basically end up with a big telescope in a small package,” Fried said. It’s a popular type of telescope among amateur observers, Fried said. Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes squeeze a long focal length - good for high-power observing - into a compact package. Meade and fellow telescope manufacturer Celestron are the two main producers of this type of telescope. It could also be a big blow to the availability and selection of Schmidt-Cassegrain telescopes on the market. But if Meade were to disappear, customers could lose support for their existing Meade products, Fried said. 'They brought numerous likable products and innovations to the market,' said Bart Fried, an amateur astronomer and vice president of the Amateur Astronomers Association of New York. The company has been making and selling affordable telescopes and accessories since the 1970s and is known for including convenient GPS and error-correcting features in its telescope mounts. Meade is a household name in the astronomy community.

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