[RonHendriks1966]

Ricoh published it's year financial report for the fiscal year ending march 31th 2016.

https://www.ricoh.com/IR/financial_data/financial_result/data/28/q4_report.pdf



In the report a few mention around the camera business:

Other
Sales in the Other segment decreased by 6.8%, as compared to the previous corresponding period, to ¥109.0 billion. The sales of camera
business decreased as compared to the previous corresponding period due to sluggish business environment, in addition to sale of San-ai
apparel business.
Operating profit increased significantly as compared to the previous corresponding period, to ¥1.4 billion due to increase in profit of leasing
business and so on (operating loss of ¥3.0 billion was incurred for the previous corresponding period).

In the camera business, as the higher model of an image input device "RICOH THETA" that allows photographers to perform one-shot
shooting for the spherical image around them, we released "RICOH THETA S" to respond to high precision still images, high quality movie
shooting, and live view functions, satisfying not only requests from users demanding higher resolution image quality but also high
requirements for increasing business purposes, which has won popularity. Also, as the successor to "GR" that many fans enjoy using, we
released "GR II" newly adopting Wi-Fi features and the NFC features that enable easy pairings with mobile terminals, making it a model that
users can enjoy in various scenes by widening the range of usability and shooting expression.

So sales of camera's are down compared to the fiscal year ending march 31th 2015.

In the presentation the Pentax K-1 is mentioned as the new introduced camera.

https://twitter.com/RonHendriks/status/725733236387753985?s=09

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Last edited by RonHendriks1966; 04-28-2016 at 10:13 AM.

[biz-engineer]

Ok, so what's your take on this financial report? Drop of the Pentax brand? Merger with another camera industry player?

[08amczb]

The Pentax K-3II was the only new DSLR in 2015 so, I think it means helthy stability. The K-1 will increase the sales in 2016. I hope a new K-3III with a BSI CMOS sensor will also increase the sales.

[Rondec]

Most of 2015 was spent in preparation for the K-1. In an ideal world, they would have released it by Christmas last year, but obviously that didn't happen. That said, the question is what sort of a boost the K-1 gives to the brand as a whole. If the way the collective forum is holding its breath, waiting for the k-1 to hit the shelves, it should be a good seller.

[RonHendriks1966]

Ok, so what's your take on this financial report? Drop of the Pentax brand? Merger with another camera industry player?

Well the camera market as a whole will stay sluggish for some time (years). As long as the camera business will make a profit there is no reason to change things. Ricoh is expecting the coming year as a company to have less sales and profit. So investing in small business parts in "the other" segment is not very likely.

We will see in the report over the current quarter how the camera business improves sales due to the K-1.

---------- Post added 28-04-16 at 20:19 ----------

When I look in my marble then I for see the following in the future.

Hi end is the business that can make money. We have the K-1 and some lenses and a lens roadmap that says new lenses for next year.

What to expect for this fiscal year.
- a follower to the K-S2, probably at Photokina
- no new Hi end aps-c, since the K-3ii is good and sales are shifting to K-1
- maybe a 645 with 100MP at cp+
- nothing for Q.
- new Theta
- no new lenses.

Not much, but enough to serve the market.

[biz-engineer]

- no new Hi end aps-c, since the K-3ii is good and sales are shifting to K-1

yes, they'll wait so that to capture as many sales as possible of the K-1

[pattymeboy]

I believe you have to look at the big picture in all electronics with cameras included.
All you have to do is read the quarterly reports, Apple is down for the first time in 13 years, Canon is down, Nikon is down.
Actually, when I read the above post, I thought that Pentax was looking far better, even if down this year, than most others.
And really a much better outlook ahead.
At least that is my take.
All I know is that I love my Ricoh GR and I am happy to be included with all the Pentaxians.

[interested_observer]

In my view the important take a way's are....

• Sales were down year over year (a bit), but more importantly Operating Margin went from negative to positive, which increased profitability.

• The K1 and its new supporting lenses were not released (so that would explain the decreased sales) - but for the most part they were not lost sales just delayed sales.

• You have to be encouraged that the reworking of the K1 and the one zoom lens that was also reworked, did not apparently adversely affect the operating margin or profitability.

Overall, I don't think that you can really ask for more, given the market conditions.

[clackers]

Interesting ... with Apparel in the Other category with cameras, they were making a loss, now that's been sold off, that division is making a profit, even with industry-wide reduced sales.

Let's hope the Board is satisfied in these difficult times.

[Rondec]

Maybe I'm being skewed by forum reports of people pre-ordering the K-1, but it feels to me like it has been selling amazingly well for an 1800 dollar camera. The bigger question is if Pentax can keep up with demand.

Truthfully, I expect the same thing from the D500 and D5 from Nikon's standpoint. I really think this is going to be a better year from an SLR standpoint and probably a little more of a slack year from a mirrorless standpoint. I doubt folks who own a A7r II are going to be dropping it to pick up whatever next gen A7 ILC Sony decides to put out.

[RonHendriks1966]

Maybe I'm being skewed by forum reports of people pre-ordering the K-1, but it feels to me like it has been selling amazingly well for an 1800 dollar camera. The bigger question is if Pentax can keep up with demand.

Truthfully, I expect the same thing from the D500 and D5 from Nikon's standpoint. I really think this is going to be a better year from an SLR standpoint and probably a little more of a slack year from a mirrorless standpoint. I doubt folks who own a A7r II are going to be dropping it to pick up whatever next gen A7 ILC Sony decides to put out.

Well ofcourse sales and pre orders for the K-1 are great. People where waiting. How that will be after the summer is a good question no answer is for now.

From Thom Hogan, the D4 was the lowest selling pro camera in the series. I still see pro's working with D3 and D3s that is by now an old camera. There is one sportsimaging agency that started working with Canon 7D ii because that was cheaper. My guess is that the D5 will sell less then D4 did.
http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/how-have-the-pro-nikon-dslr.html

I don't have the feel ing that mirrorless is over it's hi-point. I think it will keep growing and Sony will get bigger for some time to come.

[Rondec]

Well ofcourse sales and pre orders for the K-1 are great. People where waiting. How that will be after the summer is a good question no answer is for now.

From Thom Hogan, the D4 was the lowest selling pro camera in the series. I still see pro's working with D3 and D3s that is by now an old camera. There is one sportsimaging agency that started working with Canon 7D ii because that was cheaper. My guess is that the D5 will sell less then D4 did.
http://www.dslrbodies.com/newsviews/how-have-the-pro-nikon-dslr.html

I don't have the feel ing that mirrorless is over it's hi-point. I think it will keep growing and Sony will get bigger for some time to come.

Of course. The biggest thing Pentax has had in the last couple of years was the 645z, which may be a good seller for medium format, but it isn't exactly a big seller with regard to a market in general. The K-1 is going to sell a lot more because of being lower in price compared to a camera like the 645z. Price wise, it is close to the D610 level, while seeming to offer pretty close to the D810 in quality. Looks like a winner to me, but we'll have to wait to be certain.

[clackers]

I don't have the feel ing that mirrorless is over it's hi-point. I think it will keep growing and Sony will get bigger for some time to come.

No, Sony's camera sales again shrank 2 percent last year, according to last week's report.

Their numbers have been horribly way down throughout the last five years despite all their new cameras and lenses, and organisationally they've been separated from the other products (ie a selloff is now an option).

[RonHendriks1966]

No, Sony's camera sales again shrank 2 percent last year, according to last week's report.

Their numbers have been horribly way down throughout the last five years despite all their new cameras and lenses, and organisationally they've been separated from the other products (ie a selloff is now an option).

Well this is in yen's and not units I guess. The market went down 10 %, so they are growing in marketshare. The average unit price is probably up with lots of A7-series camera's. Making a profit is more important in this market then keeping sales units on a Hi level.

[monochrome]

^^^ That's a refreshing change in perspective.