Originally posted by eddie1960 I don't envy Ricoh trying to rebuild the lost capacities and abilities Hoya stripped from the company. It makes getting things to market much more difficult.
Originally posted by glanglois Spot on, Eddie. It's not hard to put more money into something (advertising, for example) but replacing lost talent and re-bulding culture is very, very difficult. It takes constant focus, hard work, and often a long time.
I will assume that Ricoh knew at least as much as we think we do and thought themselves prepared for the journey. Hiring back engineers was probably a very good sign, particularly for a Japanese company. A US-based company might hire them back as an interim step then push them back out when the new kids are ready to take over. I don't believe that Ricoh think that way.
Originally posted by jpzk Frankly, this is not my concern and I sure don't feel sorry for Ricoh-Pentax.
What concerns me are "announcements" of supposedly upcoming lenses and other gear by Pentax (Ricoh-Pentax) and the total lack of a timely follow up after teasing the public.
You may well call that a "business plan" but, in my books, this just doesn't cut it.
It would be interesting to know how many people have already acquired a 500mm-ish lens recently, and from another brand, because they wouldn't/couldn't wait for Pentax to release one.
JP
Originally posted by Greyser Perhaps the hardest thing to restore is reputation. I've said this before and I'll likely say many many times again.
Ricoh has a plan. Ricoh wants to expand the reach and market presence of the Pentax brand, which brand Ricoh believes has a unique history and value. This is and has been readily apparent to me since last October, yet so many posters here continue to look to the past and doubt Ricoh's commitment to Pentax's own announced products - understandable and unfortunate for Ricoh. And wrong for us.
Add up all the small things Ricoh has done to demonstrate this plan, the most recent being dealer-support pricing. (I'll leave the sleuthing to you - the exercise is valuable to confirming your own optimism).
You can't have a ($x,xxx) 560mm lens; FF camera; good service; dealer reps; local workshops; brand-marketing; 5 camera bodies; a full lens roadmap -- you can't have all the things everyone on this Forum asks for all day every day without pricing control. You can't rebuild the brand without profit -- meaning pricing control. You can't get dealers to stock inventory so you can touch before buying, reviewers to review fairly, media to promote -- without advertising support and you can't get that without pricing control.
This is another step in Ricoh's plan - they do indeed have a plan that is unfolding before our very eyes. But we want all our goodies without having to pay CaNikon prices.
I hope everyone who questions PRI today remembers this summer when they're putting down the money for whatever (pick your favorite item) next summer/fall/winter/year.
I've added the ILX-d back into my signature.