Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Is Pentax Dying?
- Thread starter stillshooting
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'm not sure I agree with this. Nikon offers 70-200 and 200-400 zooms that are pro level; plus the 80-400 which is just slightly below that class.
Or am I misinterpreting what you mean?
No, that guy was ignorant, he had no idea what he was talking about. Pentax has been a major player in cameras for decades. There is still a major following in pentax DSLR's. Plus, they have introductory level cameras (k200d, k100d) and mid pro level cameras, including the k10d and the k20d.
The only thing I can think of is that Pentax doesn't have any pro level cameras, which for me is not a big deal, because the mid level DSLR by pentax is more than enough camera for me. However if you need more specs in a more pro level camera, than nikon or canon would be the way to go (for $2k+ cameras)
Me personally, I love Pentax for many reasons, including price, ease of use (I love the ergonomics and button layout and feel of the pentax lineups), compatibility with my old pentax lenses, as well as many other reasons.
The only thing I can think of is that Pentax doesn't have any pro level cameras, which for me is not a big deal, because the mid level DSLR by pentax is more than enough camera for me. However if you need more specs in a more pro level camera, than nikon or canon would be the way to go (for $2k+ cameras)
Me personally, I love Pentax for many reasons, including price, ease of use (I love the ergonomics and button layout and feel of the pentax lineups), compatibility with my old pentax lenses, as well as many other reasons.
I totally agree - for me it was £100 less at the time so a good deal I also got a bag, a remote control and two lens covers. The shop guy said he thought the Pentax was better and that customers thought so too. Even though it was the same camera.
I guess that explains the price difference when I bought it.
Pentax isn't going anywhere. They wouldn't be releasing high dollar pro level glass if they were. They'd be releasing a whole raftload of cheap consumer zooms ala Canon's 18-55 in the hopes of selling most of them and making a huge profit. Nobody even at Pentax thinks they'll sell the limiteds in a huge volume.
They'd sell the cheap plastic lenses or they wouldn't even release new lenses.
But their new limited primes are awesome and they'll step ahead of Nikon because the newest ones will have ultrasonic motors in them.
SLC
They'd sell the cheap plastic lenses or they wouldn't even release new lenses.
But their new limited primes are awesome and they'll step ahead of Nikon because the newest ones will have ultrasonic motors in them.
SLC
Well as a recent K20D buying i certainly hope that Pentax isn't dying. I have read and watch plenty of glowing reviews of Pentax dSLR's and i have also heard of camera stores cutting back their pentax inventory to almost none at all (not even stocking lenses). Pentax is a good camera company than makes some of the finest glass in the business (31mm f/1.8 limited as one of the best AF lenses ever made if not the best). Pentax also needs to realize that marketing of camera's is important and while many pentax users get pentax cameras because of word of mouth, that alone is not going to sell cameras.
Sony has a lot more money- that didn't make a bit of difference for the 14 or so money-losing product lines they dropped two or three years ago.
Pentax's medical imaging equipment makes a lot more money and moves Hoya a lot further up the food chain than their DSLR business- where Sony is eating their lunch in the home market where all their investors live.
FWIW, though they're known for filters, it looks to me like they're making all their current money on LCD masks, glass hard drive platters and eyeglass lenses in Europe and Asia.
Q2 sales for Hoya were up 27%, but operating income was down 23% and net income down 9%. They listed their corporate growth areas as eyeglasses, contact lenses and endoscopic systems. Of those three strategic growth areas, only the butt scopes are Pentax.
Here's what Hoya said in their Q2 report about Pentax:
Losing share and more importantly revenue in cameras, increasing share and revenue in butt/nose-scopes.
Strategically, it's quite obvious that Hoya bought Pentax for the buttscope/nosescope business, not the camera business.
With their mask businesses also going south, it's questionable how many money-losing business units Hoya will continue to float and for how long.
Pentax lost almost 2.5 Billion Yen for the first half of the year- on 33B Yen of sales. Sales are decreasing, margins are decreasing- that doesn't sound much like a winning scenario to me.
On page 13 of their Quarterly Report they show Pentax as -26.3% growth on the quarter compared to last year when Pentax was floundering enough for Hoya to start looking seriously at a purchase and -18.9 over the first six months of last year compared to last year. Hoya also lost money geographically in North America and Europe- two large DSLR segments.
We'll see what their forward-looking statements say in Feb., but I'm not buying Hoya stock on the basis of the last quarterly report.
Sounds like a typical salesman who's trying to sell you something you don't need.
I used to hear that type of thing a lot back in the 90's when looking around in a computer store, and I said to the salesman I had a Mac...
Keep fighting Pentax!
Although Compuwar's sales figures look dismal for Pentax, the downturn in the economy may be a larger factor than the lack of Pentax's DSLR offerings. If Pentax keeps offering a great value, Image Stabilazation, and backwards compatibility with lenses, they may survive. This year may be a pivotal year for a lot of companies, but to judge a companies viability in these challenging times on the sales figures may be a little less revealing. According to Nikon's sales figures from the last quarter they are down from a year ago to the tune of -813 million Yen:www.nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/result/pdf/2009/09_2qf_c_e.pdf Now if the coming year Pentax drops the ball, and doesn't offer an upgrade from the k20d, or k200d, and the PnS's, then continues to poorly market and keep their products out of the retail stores, they may go the way of the dodo. There is nothing wrong with their equipment, but if they don't continue to fight they may loose the race.
Although Compuwar's sales figures look dismal for Pentax, the downturn in the economy may be a larger factor than the lack of Pentax's DSLR offerings. If Pentax keeps offering a great value, Image Stabilazation, and backwards compatibility with lenses, they may survive. This year may be a pivotal year for a lot of companies, but to judge a companies viability in these challenging times on the sales figures may be a little less revealing. According to Nikon's sales figures from the last quarter they are down from a year ago to the tune of -813 million Yen:www.nikon.com/about/ir/ir_library/result/pdf/2009/09_2qf_c_e.pdf Now if the coming year Pentax drops the ball, and doesn't offer an upgrade from the k20d, or k200d, and the PnS's, then continues to poorly market and keep their products out of the retail stores, they may go the way of the dodo. There is nothing wrong with their equipment, but if they don't continue to fight they may loose the race.
^^^
Great post...
I still remember vividly going to Service Merchandise to get a Pentak K1000 as my birthday gift as a young teenager...
Yes, cameras are no longer just a mechanical shutter box, they are essentially computers with a an electronic CCD...
There's no longer anymore room for more than 2 main players (like the computer or videogame industry). Everyone else is an "also ran" and no one cares if they come or go (I own and love my newer Olympus E500, but people still say it's not a Canon or Nikon )
It all boils down to talent anyways, and how you use whatever tool you have, either a camera or computer.
Great post...
I still remember vividly going to Service Merchandise to get a Pentak K1000 as my birthday gift as a young teenager...
Yes, cameras are no longer just a mechanical shutter box, they are essentially computers with a an electronic CCD...
There's no longer anymore room for more than 2 main players (like the computer or videogame industry). Everyone else is an "also ran" and no one cares if they come or go (I own and love my newer Olympus E500, but people still say it's not a Canon or Nikon
)It all boils down to talent anyways, and how you use whatever tool you have, either a camera or computer.
Well, actually...sorry to be coy, but in certain circles, it's well known that Pentax is in deep trouble financially. Most do not equate this to the quality of their products at all...poor marketing maybe. If they had not merged with Hoya...they'd be dead. Going up against the marketing POWER of Canon and Sony can not be fun.
The fact that this thread is happening, Thom Hogan and other Pros are talking about it on their websites, etc...only makes things worse for Pentax. Such word of mouth could be devastating for a company already struggling.
As a Nikon shooter, I wish Pentax every success in 2009.
AF-S 50 mm f/1,4G
AF-S 60mm f/2.8G Micro
AF-S VR 105mm f/2.8G Micro
AF-S VR 200mm f/2.0G ED-IF
AF-I 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S 300mm f/4.0D ED-IF
AF-S VR 300mm f/2.8 ED-IF
AF-I 400mm f/2.8D IF-ED
AF-S 400mm f/2.8D ED-IF
AF-S VR 400mm f/2.8G ED
AF-I 500mm f/4.0D IF-ED
AF-S 500mm f/4.0D ED-IF
AF-S VR 500mm f/4G ED
AF-I 600mm f/4.0D IF-ED
AF-S 600mm f/4.0D ED-IF
AF-S VR 600mm f/4G ED
I believe there are actually two versions of the AF-S 400mm f/2.8D, as my particular lens is marked as AF-S II, though I don't recall if any of the other super-teles have the same designation- but since they represent the same focal lengths it's relatively moot.
Sigma also offers nine HSM lenses in a Nikon mount that are fixed focal length (two are f/2.8 fisheyes- 4.5mm and 10mm plus 14mm f/2.8, 30mm f/1.4, 50mm f/1.4, 150mm f/2.8, 180mm f/3.5, 300mm f/2.8, 500mm f/4.5 and 800mm f/5.6) and the always excellent Tamron 90mm SP Di now comes in a version with a built-in focus motor (272EN II.)
The 300 had a series I and II as well. I believe the series II lenses were lightened somewhat over the series I lenses. If memory serves me, the minimum focus distance on the series II 300 is somewhat less than that of the series I lens too.
edit: this page is a good resource for Nikon lenses: http://www.photosynthesis.co.nz/nikon/lenses.html. It looks like the 500 and 600 also had series I and II variants.
Please note that I didn't intimate the problems are from a lack of offerings- the thing that worries me is that their margins are shrinking and their market share is shrinking even while the digital camera market is growing.
But to judge them on their shrinking share and margins seems quite appropriate.
Yes, all ships sink when the tide lowers, but Nikon's margins are increasing- and in overall terms, Nikon's business is tied to semiconductors, just like Hoyas- so overall profitability is what's important and in terms of both companies, how the camera division is doing is what's important to this group.
Here is a relevant statement from Nikon's report:
See, that- their camera business is increasing sales in a growing market segment even though the overall company isn't doing as well as last year.
Here's the rest of Nikon's report on their imaging systems division from the report you cite:
Now, if you're investing your money- which would you prefer, net sales up almost 25% or down over 26%? Also note that Nikon's Imaging Products revenues are 10x those of Hoya's Pentax division- so that profitability is a huge upside to an investor- assuming the rest of the company doesn't lose it!
That's why I (and many others) wonder how much fortitude Hoya has for the Pentax camera unit. Semiconductor-based revenues are down, both companies see that effect. LCD masks are up, both companies see that effect. Digital camera sales are up, only one of the two sees that effect.
That's a succinct synopsis, however I'd say at this point that continuing to fight may not even be enough.
Here's what's interesting to me in Nikon's report (and subsequently missing in Hoya's- which is why I stated my concerns as I did-)
Nikon's selling more cameras than ever, and making more money with them even as the Yen sucks (by being too strong) in North America and Europe at the same time (a huge issue for Japanese camera manufacturers, since they can't dump manufactured product in the opposite market like they used to.)
We *all* know the Coolpix line pretty-much blows chunks in terms of interesting and innovated products- and that the low end P&S market has the worst margins so spending a lot of money to compete there won't help you.
More interestingly, Nikon's handing out D40 and D60's like they're going out of style. We know all the 3rd parties offer more "bang for the buck" at the low end- but that's not selling cameras- price is. Now, if your margins are going south that's something you really don't want to hear. It costs more to add more features. Nikon's doling out $700 18-200VR lenses like mince pies at Christmas and you're throwing anti-shake in the body (which eats into your margins) for free.
Importantly, Nikon's also selling more mid-range cameras- and that's where the real money is. The margins are great, the volumes are good- that's a sign of success. Lots of low end cameras are ok (Volume over unit price,) lots of high-end cameras is good (Margins over volume,) lots more mid-end cameras are the best (Volume and Margins!) Nikon appears to be selling well on all fronts, and while Q2 (the Japanese electronics companies almost all shift one quarter off the calendar year) isn't out of the woods, if you weren't doing well then, Q3 (the big holiday season) is going to be a big worry when it's a down season for everyone.
Finally, and this is most interesting- Nikon is touting lens sales! Your average DSLR owner buys 1.1-1.2 lenses. Lens sales are not usually a huge growth item. More importantly, a $700US lens usually isn't something you tout in your quarterly report as a hot seller. I'm guessing some optics execs got really good bonuses this year for the 18-200VR.
Looking at this, Nikon appears to be firing on all cylinders- high, mid and low market DSLRs, P&S cameras, and even lenses. Even battling with a much bigger Canon for market share, they're gaining share, raising profit margins and (from my interpretation) surprising themselves that the US economy hasn't yet hit them as negatively as they expected[1.]
Westside guy said:
Nikon also makes an 80-200, however my opinion is that the 80-400VR is much more than "just slightly below" that class. It's not on-par with the Canon 100-400, and it's not as sharp at 400mm as the Sigma 50-500mm is at 500mm. I've owned both the 80-400 and 50-500, and the 80-400 is well below the 70-200VR, 80-200 and 200-400VR in terms of image quality. It doesn't totally blow chunks, but it's not in the same league as the other super-telephoto zooms from Nikon nor at least one from Sigma.
[1] Canon is starting to make "bottom drops out in '09" noises, even with the industry pundits predicting 2012 as the year it all goes south. When the 800lb gorilla says he's going to be short of bananas, the 200lb gorilla has to be surprised he's still got all he can eat.
No doubt that Nikon's business model is more successful, and if Pentax is to survive they need to take some notes. Joining Hoya may have only saved them in the short term. Pentax could make a come-back, but they would have to "hit on all cylinders" too. I have my doubts that they have the capital. Should be an interesting year. It pains me to see Sony making a run for the gauntlet and Pentax riding only on thier loyal following.
Hoya should probably be shopping the brand to the big players - Samsung or Panasonic. It appears that Olympus and Panasonic are connected through their manufacturing chain, so maybe just Samsung then.
This article by Hogan is relevant to this discussion: http://www.bythom.com/2009predictions.htm
Oh, Hoya has the capital- I just don't see any way for Pentax to distinguish themselves from the rest of the pack.
What's the sell? Samsung is Korean, that's gonna smart in Japan if they're even interested- but Samsung's culture seems to be more the partnership than the acquisition route. I don't see the draw for Samsung.
Panasonic has tied themselves to 4/3rds- it's too soon to jump that ship and not look dumb for getting on board. Pentax doesn't bring much to that equation. As soon as micro 4/3rds kills 4/3rds, Panasonic can go back to making small cameras where they do well.
If anyone would be interesting as an acquirer it'd be Sigma- they're way too slow with new bodies and changing mounts wouldn't be too much of a hassle for them since they manufacture lenses in everyone's mounts anyway.
The brand name is the sell. The top 3 in the DSLR market are pretty well established now. It's going to take some muscle to compete with the top players in the market, probably more muscle than Hoya or Sigma can muster.
Samsung aren't impressed by brand names, mostly because they're the Sony of Korea. Their own brand is what matters most (You don't see "Minolta by Sony!" on the Sony DSLRs despite decades of Minolta advertising/branding.) Hoya is keeping the Pentax branding so far, Samsung and Sony aren't that kind of company. Samsung's partnership with Pentax a few years ago seemed a bit rocky- in 2005, they were planning to jointly launch DSLRs and Pentax was going to buy parts from Samsung- after Pentax hamstrung Samsung on pricing the joint products went south, Pentax went on to different sensor platforms and was consistently late with new models, it would appear that Samsung's view of the relationship wasn't positive and would taint the possibility of future relationships.
Panasonic is co-branding with Leica, are you really saying that Pentax is a stronger brand than Leica? Granted, it's fallen flat, but still that's not going to encourage them to do it all over again with someone else further down the perceived food chain, nor is it likely to make them consider Pentax over Oly, who are a better buy since they're already tooled up to manufacture all their stuff and the profit over the manufacturing markup has to be attractive. If I were Panasonic, I'd be either spending all my capital trying to kill off Oly with micro-4/3rds or I'd be trying to buy them up at a good price. Either one makes me the "one step up from a P&S" king. Oly handily beats Pentax's share in the motherland where all the M&A people live too. Finally, the G1 is outselling all other 4/3rds cameras and almost outselling Pentax's top seller at home. Panasonic is good at small, buying Oly would get them more in their niche, not distract them with a different niche.
Only Sony is really positioned to compete with Canon and Nikon, and even there I think they're throwing money away. Anyone else has to realistically shoot for gaining share in the also ran category.
Sigma is an industry player, not a small division in a huge behemoth. I think they have the best chance of making Pentax viable again- Pentax-badged Panasonic P&Ss isn't what I consider viable even if I thought it was likely.
I don't care much about Samsung's brand, but the name Pentax has a fair bit of cachet here, at least among those of us who remember it as a solid, no-nonsense, entry level camera. A DSLR with the Samsung label would not sell as well as a camera with Pentax on the pentaprism housing. Samsung has the chops to compete with Sony, unlike Hoya or Sigma.
As far as Panasonic and Leica goes, I think it's more likely that Panasonic would bring Olympus into the fold. Panasonic now owns Sanyo, who is Olympus' contract manufacturer. Leica is a niche brand these days, mostly appealing to the pretentious and/or well-heeled.
The problem Pentax has is that's mostly a dwindling crowd who've either "grown past it" or who are happily snapping away with 15 year old glass bringing in no new revenue.
But the point is that cameras with Pentax on the pentaprism aren't selling well, and less well each year. If they're realistically at "fire sale #2" stage, then the perception of the brand is worth more than the brand is. Hoya pretty-much admits to purchasing Pentax mostly for the endoscopy business, but put a brave face on keeping the camera business too. Almost everyone expects that face to start to frown soon- which leads us to where we are.
Is there enough goodwill in the Samsung/Pentax relationship for Samsung to rescue the brand and promote it instead of their own? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. I think the partnership with Schneider-Kreuznach is much more "comfortable" for Samsung, and I think going from dead last to dead last with a new name isn't how they see themselves competing.
Another thought is does having people migrate up from P&S cameras that say "Samsung" on them get the company brand further in the long-run while the competition simply bats Pentax's corpse around distracting themselves? In other words, will the Pentax branding of Samsung's cameras increase sales enough in the short term to be worth "ditching" the main corporate brand? It's an interesting question, and while the Samsung Techwin folks are the same as say the Samsung Networking Division folks, the networking folks espouse a "partner don't buy" philosophy that I think represents the companies as a whole.
My impression (and I admit to not having researched it) is that Samsung really only competes with Sony on price. In the shrinking margins consumer DSLR space, that'd likey just take 'em both out of the DSLR market.
That's what I said, so I think we're in agreement there. I mentioned Leica simply as someone they're co-branding with and as an example of why they might not consider a Pentax brand a huge deal- it's silly to tri-brand so if you're doing the whole "brand the lens as good no matter where or how it's made" thing (Sony/Zeiss, Panasonic/Leica, Samsung/Schneider-Kreuznach) then you pretty-much have to rebrand the camera to Pentax for a Pentax acquisition to make sense if you're those three- and at least two of the three aren't likely to do that and the third is much better off with Olympus. Granted the Panasonic initial co-branding when further into the body styling, but that burnt them pretty badly.
It'll be interesting to watch, that's for sure.
Well Pentax interestingly ranks near the top in consumer satisfaction but they really are surviving right now on a loyal following of people like me (i love my pentax). Look, with a little marketing money and well placed campaign could do wonders for pentax. Their equipment is good enough and pentax glass, though small in selection is considered some of the the best glass in the business. Can-Nik-on has gone far because of relentless marketing but in truth i have never used a Ca-Nik-on I actually liked. In comparison to pentax, all i would get is more expensive lenses and faster AF. Oh my ...
Not to mention the K20d and the K200d are both weather-sealed (something you won't get in comparable Ca-Nik-Ons) and have wireless flash ... something some Canon dSLR's STILL don't support. Since Pentax does have a true pro camera line that does nothing other that lose money, they don't have to charge more for prosumer equipment like Ca-nikon does.
Not to mention the K20d and the K200d are both weather-sealed (something you won't get in comparable Ca-Nik-Ons) and have wireless flash ... something some Canon dSLR's STILL don't support. Since Pentax does have a true pro camera line that does nothing other that lose money, they don't have to charge more for prosumer equipment like Ca-nikon does.
Um, I doubt it. Pentax doesn't have the distribution channels that Canon or Nikon have (apparently they don't even have the channels Sony's camera division and Olympus do in retail.) All the marketing budget in the world won't help if your product isn't where people will be able to buy it. When you have one model available at BestBuy.com and it's online-only that's a big problem. Now granted, retail will eventually tank like the bloated over-priced over-built monstrosity it is- but in the mean time Pentax isn't selling a lot of cameras at retail. Granted, they're not discounting them left and right either- but for a product company selling product seems to be one of those things that should be on your to-do list. Probably not too far down after "make the product" either.
When your online-only model costs $1000 and your three or four in-store competitors have models that start at 20-30% less, a "well-placed campaign" isn't going to help much. In a bad economy it's going to help you even less than in a booming one.
When you have less about three percent of the market, your nearest competitors have twice that and their nearest competitors 15 times that, your "little marketing money" is just that- little. You can be out-marketed by everyone, their dogs and the fleas on their dog's backs. Even if the fleas get to do brand management.
When you're hemorrhaging money, your R&D budge is going to suck. Your ability to get new models out is going to suck. Your frantic marketing department is going to say "How about if we just make the next one WHITE?" This is not a good thing.
When you can highlight three things on each model on your home page (which is a little strange- it's YOUR home page) and one of the three on your new model is a "dedicated help button" you don't need a little bit of marketing- you need a new marketing department, who should get to see the results of the former marketing department's dismissal. I suppose that whole seppku thing is too old-school for the dismissal to really be used as an object lesson though.
(I sure hope you're not a business major!)
"Good enough!" What resounding praise! With reviews like that, they'll be back in no time! Sony's got "small in selection." Olympus has all-new small in selection. They're both trouncing Pentax. We might ponder how poor the selection need be to get the job done and we might conclude it's not lack 'o glass that's the issue here (after all, Pentax has the best backwards compatibility evar!)
That's it though, nevermind that silly actually turning out products lots of people will buy, never mind catering to professional photographers for decades, never mind having more than two sensor options, never mind having a large and complete line of new lenses... it's all about what YOU like.
You don't like either of the companies' equipment who outsell Pentax by a margin of 15:1, despite the fact that each of them offers eight and nine different *current* models respectively, most of which vary quite a bit from each other- that's a lot of dislike for a lot of different cameras, one must wonder how Pentax managed to make a whole two or three favorable cameras- but obviously this proves that while those guys at Pentax obviously know squat about achieving success in the global DSLR market, they're *really* *really* good at knowing what their (few remaining, and ever dwindling) customers like! I suppose one must take one's successes where they lay.
Obviously, you're totally entitled to not like them, however they're both selling lots of cameras, and Pentax isn't. So I don't think your dislike is having much of a negative impact on their bottom lines, nor is your praise having a positive effect on Hoya's bottom line, so you'll have to excuse me if I think your likes and dislikes are all that material. Unless they're like that whole opposite day thing we used to do in High School. Nah, even then
Yeah, if you're in business the thing you want to do is just lose money and give stuff away that people will pay for. That's an obvious path to success- I mean look at how independent Pentax - oh wait, yeah bought out. I mean look how successful Pentax- oh wait, yeah- shrinking sales in a growing market. I mean look how competitive Pentax- oh wait, yeah shrinking market share. I mean gee golly, those seals sure are nice!
Here's a hint about business and success- Canon and Nikon don't *have* to charge more, they *can* charge more. That makes them more profitable, gives them more money for silly little things like advertising, marketing, research and development, building production lines, sourcing components, paying their employees and all those other little business things that get in the way of going down the tubes like a greased weasel with a jet pack.
The Pentax line is a good camera line, but don't you find it a little ironic that a "true pro camera line" seems to be being increasingly avoided by "true pros?"
However, I salute your rabid fanaticism. I really hope Pentax weathers the storm, but let's just say I won't be long on Hoya any time soon.
Compuwar .... you clearly want a war lol ... well here goes.
Yes Pentax does not have good distribution channels as they pretty much have no B&M presence left ... even in camera stores. They have made plenty bad business decisions. When everyone else is spending marketing money and you are spending none, thats a problem. The dedicated "help" button is kind of stupid. yes. And yes Perhaps Pentax needs a reality check on how to compete in the market.
Pentax entered the DSLR market far too late in comparison to everyone else. But in 2001 sensors will still only a couple of megapixels and it wasn't really until 2003 where the sensors were able to capture enough data to seriously make a go at replacing film. This was about the the time that pentax introduced their first dSLR's but really they didn't have a serious camera until the K10D. This is a camera that won this many awards.
Yes pentax does not have 2432143 different camera variants but look, if anything Apple has proven that you don't have to have 534534 different models to be successful. Apple has basically 3 Laptops. Consumer version, niche thin highly mobile and Pro level. If anything its actually good ... less R/D money spent on different cameras.
Pentax many things going for them, even though they have lost a lot of market share, their consumer satisfaction rating is far higher than their competitors. They only reason they are not selling cameras because people don't know about them.
Consumers walk into best buy and see the Canon and the Nikon and go ... oh this is what the pro's shoot, it must be good. Usually it is good. If not more expensive than Pentax equipment which is as good and in some cases better. You can't just sell cameras online, people want to play with them first and see if they like them. I think as long as you get them in the hands of people sales will go up. Many people, such as me, who shoot pentax, where introduced to pentax through friends. I know a loyal niche following that rebel in thoughts of the good ole days when pentax was on top is not going to keep the company a float forever.
Hoya has proven that they are willing to get behind pentax and they are introducing more cameras at PMA 09 this year. The good news is that Pentax is still a profitable company and as long as profits are turned, the cameras will still get made.
I think it might even be a good idea to experiment with B&M Pentax Stores like apple has done with great success. Test markets like New York, Tokyo, San Francisco would great places to start. A place were you can bring people in and really teach them how to use their cameras. So many people just get a Nikon D60 with a ****** kit lens and never really achieve the full potential of their camera. Why play Best buy to carry your camera when you can just make your own store? Its genius thank you lol.
Yes Pentax does not have good distribution channels as they pretty much have no B&M presence left ... even in camera stores. They have made plenty bad business decisions. When everyone else is spending marketing money and you are spending none, thats a problem. The dedicated "help" button is kind of stupid. yes. And yes Perhaps Pentax needs a reality check on how to compete in the market.
Pentax entered the DSLR market far too late in comparison to everyone else. But in 2001 sensors will still only a couple of megapixels and it wasn't really until 2003 where the sensors were able to capture enough data to seriously make a go at replacing film. This was about the the time that pentax introduced their first dSLR's but really they didn't have a serious camera until the K10D. This is a camera that won this many awards.
Yes pentax does not have 2432143 different camera variants but look, if anything Apple has proven that you don't have to have 534534 different models to be successful. Apple has basically 3 Laptops. Consumer version, niche thin highly mobile and Pro level. If anything its actually good ... less R/D money spent on different cameras.
Pentax many things going for them, even though they have lost a lot of market share, their consumer satisfaction rating is far higher than their competitors. They only reason they are not selling cameras because people don't know about them.
Consumers walk into best buy and see the Canon and the Nikon and go ... oh this is what the pro's shoot, it must be good. Usually it is good. If not more expensive than Pentax equipment which is as good and in some cases better. You can't just sell cameras online, people want to play with them first and see if they like them. I think as long as you get them in the hands of people sales will go up. Many people, such as me, who shoot pentax, where introduced to pentax through friends. I know a loyal niche following that rebel in thoughts of the good ole days when pentax was on top is not going to keep the company a float forever.
Hoya has proven that they are willing to get behind pentax and they are introducing more cameras at PMA 09 this year. The good news is that Pentax is still a profitable company and as long as profits are turned, the cameras will still get made.
I think it might even be a good idea to experiment with B&M Pentax Stores like apple has done with great success. Test markets like New York, Tokyo, San Francisco would great places to start. A place were you can bring people in and really teach them how to use their cameras. So many people just get a Nikon D60 with a ****** kit lens and never really achieve the full potential of their camera. Why play Best buy to carry your camera when you can just make your own store? Its genius thank you lol.