Meade Instruments

Meade Instruments Corporation (also shortened to Meade) was an American multinational company headquartered in Watsonville, California, that manufactured, imported and distributed telescopes, binoculars, spotting scopes, microscopes, CCD cameras, and telescope accessories for the consumer market. It was, at one point, the world's largest manufacturer of telescopes. Besides selling under its "Meade" brand name, the company sold solar telescopes under the brand "Coronado". In July 2024, Sky and Telescope magazine reported that Optronic Technologies, the owner of Meade Instruments and Orion Telescopes, had closed their facilities in California and had laid off all of their employees. As of July 15, there had been no official announcement from the company, and S&T said they were trying to get more information from their sources. As of December, 2024, the Sky&Telescope website announced that the assets of Meade, Coronado and Orion Telescopes and Binoculars would be listed for auction and that these companies were ceasing operations.