[paulsubhajit]

It is unfortunate that Pentax do not have a branch or official business activity in India. All Pentax photographic equipment are imported, so we have to pay international official price + Shipping charges + 30% import duty on both price and shipping whenever we want to buy a Pentax gear. Other brands like Nikon, Canon etc. sells in India at international official price. For amateur Photographers like me it is troublesome to buy a Pentax and when available, is at about 1.5 times the international price. The other option is to buy from grey market with uncertainty. Having no authorized service center is also a problem. Isn't Pentax aware of its worldwide reputation? Is it fare to disappoint crores of its potential customers worldwide; when this is not actually a buyer-seller relation rather a trust, a nostalgia. Not only me, it is from the time of my grandfather that my family uses Pentax. The first camera of my family was a Spotmatic. Isn't Pentax interested to keep the relationship? When most of the other existing brands have presence in India, why not Pentax?

[calsan]

I thought things were a bit ordinary in Australia, but we've at least got a distributor.
We're only 22 million population, so you would think India would at least have a distributor if Australia can have one.

[calsan]

1.24 BILLION population... sounds like there might be a market there.

[carrrlangas]

Hey, dont complain so much. Here in Argentina people doesn´t even know pentax makes DSLRs.. Pentax lenses (old ones) are only known as canon / nikon video lenses...
I buy my legacy lenses locally and I bought my K5+18-55WR from a guy that buys in USA and imports the gear with a comission. Later a family member who travelled to the US brought me a DA10-17... BUT mostly, I enjoy buying used (sometimes in like new condition!) lenses to try and learn so I can wait for the opportunity to bring some gear if I want / need.
Look for a work-arround!

[siamthai]

That's very strange since the total market in India is the same or maybe even more than whole of Europe (only counting the Indian middle class).

[Ben E]

It is unfortunate that Pentax do not have a branch or official business activity in India. All Pentax photographic equipment are imported, so we have to pay international official price + Shipping charges + 30% import duty on both price and shipping whenever we want to buy a Pentax gear. Other brands like Nikon, Canon etc. sells in India at international official price. For amateur Photographers like me it is troublesome to buy a Pentax and when available, is at about 1.5 times the international price. The other option is to buy from grey market with uncertainty. Having no authorized service center is also a problem. Isn't Pentax aware of its worldwide reputation? Is it fare to disappoint crores of its potential customers worldwide; when this is not actually a buyer-seller relation rather a trust, a nostalgia. Not only me, it is from the time of my grandfather that my family uses Pentax. The first camera of my family was a Spotmatic. Isn't Pentax interested to keep the relationship? When most of the other existing brands have presence in India, why not Pentax?

Same situation here in Israel

[bossa]

1.24 BILLION population... sounds like there might be a market there.

It sounds like the Indians are too bust having sex anyway.. not a bad thing I suppose ;-)

[paulsubhajit]

Same situation here in Israel

I cannot understand marketing policy of Pentax. Frequency of TV commercials by Nikon or Canon tells the story of ever growing large market of photographic equipment here in India. In spite of that, we are left with no choice but to buy from grey market and for any repair or software related problem there is no trained authorised mechanic. Sometimes in India you get used Pentax DSLRs in about 1/3rd of the price it sells new, but you have to wait until such an item is listed on eBay or OLX. However, for original parts or accessories you have to buy from Amazon or Adorama or from other sites and have to pay huge import duty.

[Ben E]

I cannot understand marketing policy of Pentax. Frequency of TV commercials by Nikon or Canon tells the story of ever growing large market of photographic equipment here in India. In spite of that, we are left with no choice but to buy from grey market and for any repair or software related problem there is no trained authorised mechanic. Sometimes in India you get used Pentax DSLRs in about 1/3rd of the price it sells new, but you have to wait until such an item is listed on eBay or OLX. However, for original parts or accessories you have to buy from Amazon or Adorama or from other sites and have to pay huge import duty.

They just aren't very interested in the worldwide market, it seems. I guess they are content with selling in the major countries and ignoring the others (although I would define India as more of a major country, as it has the second largest population in the world!)

[tim60]

Maybe it needs a local in these countries to approach the home company to be a distributor. See, a business opportunity is open for someone in India, Israel and Argentina from the record of this thread. A local is in a better position to know how to navigate the local regulations. What you want to get is the exclusive marketing channel in your country so that your investment in getting it to work returns to you. Probably Ricoh would be happy to negotiate terms. But what do they know about the local regulations in foreign countries, and there are huge numbers of stories of people who have had trouble trying to open business in apparently attractive market countries.

[RonHendriks1966]

There should be a market in the few big city's!

City's with more then 10 miljion habitats:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacity

or this list with area's with over 1 miljion in India:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_million-plus_urban_agglomerations_in_India