Originally posted by PrimeObjectif Hahahahah! Well, I guess that's what happened to the 645D in Japan. :P
I wouldn't be too quick to laugh at this observation. I am being told that deliveries of new cameras from Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sony are going to be fairly small. The emphasis will be placed, respectively, on the following products: D5000 vs. D3100, T2i vs. 60D, A390 vs. A33. Based on what these companies are telling retailers, it may be safe to assume that quantities of K-5 and even K-r may not be huge specifically to keep from having to sell many cameras at too low of a price.
I happen to think it interesting that in many ways Canon's and Nikon's latest enthusiast offerings are more and more like the K-7 which is going to have the far greater value. Both the 60D and the D7000 fall closer to the lower cameras they have been sandwiched between, and aside from video features the new cameras are not radically better than the K-7.
My last point on companies not wanting to go completely overboard underpricing things is what Canon has NOT announced. Will there ever be a replacement for the flagship 1DS Mark III? The camera is more than a year overdue for a replacement based on the history of that line. Canon and Sony may have the deepest pockets in the industry, but I think it's telling how many products have been announced with vague 2011 deliveries. None of these guys want to sell very many of the new products at the prices they are suggesting because one of two things happen. They either lose buckets full of profit or the offend everyone by trying to make a profit.