[janosh]

To the extent that Pentax is Vietnam-built (pancake lenses), its price will rise vs dollar if dollar doesn't rise.

Vietnam isn't like China, whose currency is nearly perfectly pegged to the dollar...Chinese goods depend on US market, so China doesn't want the yuan to strengthen vs dollar (which would make Walmart goods more expensive in the US).

Vietnamese currency is more likely to remain stable vs Euro and Yen, rise vs dollar (able because it's free floating, like Euro) therefore Europe's where Pentax is placing its advertising bets...not in US. Even Canada's historically dubious dollar is rising vs US dollar, so it makes sense to advertise there more than in the US.

Japan is a bizarre financial mess, may be getting worse, so it's risky to manufacture there. Vietnam is on the way up as an economy, like Europe has been in the recent past...therefore Vietnam's a smart place to manufacture for that market....maybe the smartest possible place.