Originally posted by monochrome If I were Ricoh I'd bury Asahi and Takumar - and the brand name Pentax - altogether. IThey carry little if any positive marketing attributes any more. The Pentax brand has the marketing power of Kodak or Vivitar or Oldsmobile.
Frankly, all the name Pentax does in the West is stimulate angry exchanges on web Fora that show up at the top of Google searches. most of which happen on this Forum.
You beat me to it. Asahi and Takumar are dead names with miniscule marketing power. New photographers in the United States have never heard of "Pentax" while older photographers think the company is out of business.
Things are different in Japan.