Originally posted by falconeye Some wishful thinking here?
Meanwhile, I checked it up and it is an official news from an established news agency (The official portal of Malaysian National News Agency (BERNAMA)). So, it is as well documented as such a number can actually get.
Here you go:
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BERNAMA - Nikon Targets To Produce 30,000 Units Of D800 Per Month
Note: The news is obviously coming from Zakaria Abdul Wahab (Bernama) when participating at a factory tour at Sendai, Japan, where the D800 is assembled. There seem to have been 30 representatives from the media at this tour, so maybe, more sources for this number will emerge.
Face it, the D800 is a 1 billion $ annual revenue for Nikon.
Never again I want to hear the words "niche" and "full frame" together in one sentence
Some questions...
Does monthly production = monthly sales, or will they wind down production long before they've stopped selling?
Does anyone know the profit margins on a camera such as this?
I wonder what % of sales will be to current Nikonians moving up/replacing vs. new customers from other brands?
Some other data points...
30,000 per month is ~10% of APS-C production
"Nikon have issued a two statements so far concerning the situation at their Thailand factory, which has been in operation for over 20-years and where over 15,000 workers are employed producing around
300,000 camera units per month (D3100, D5100, D7000 and, D300s), along with most of the DX lens range and a few of FX zoom lenses (24-120, 28-300 and, 70-300). The plant is responsible for the production of a vast majority of Nikon D-SLR cameras and accounts for approximately 70% of the total SLR lens production."
Nikon Thailand: Matters go from bad to worse | Pixiq D70 was produced at a rate of 70,000 per month
"According to the Japanese site digitalcamera.jp, the monthly output is going to be
70,000 units per month - exactly that of the Digital Rebel."
D70 production rate: 70,000 per month: Nikon D90 - D40 / D7000 - D3000 Forum: Digital Photography Review
I'm too lazy to confirm this number, but it's interesting to see how much the dSLR market has grown in less than 10 years.
D700 assembled at same factory with similar staff
"The D700 is assembled at the Nikon Sendai factory...Until recently, the factory employed about 1,200 staff, many part-time workers, and operated a single eight-hour shift per day. However, the unprecedented demand for the D3 and the requirement to open a new production line for the manufacturing of the D700 has brought about changes at Nikon Sendai, with an expansion of the workforce to around 1,600 staff and a significant increase in productivity.
However, by contrast to the Nikon Thailand production facility....Nikon Sendai is still a small operation. The Thailand facility employs over 15,000 people in the production of the
D40, D60, D90 and D300 models, with about 60,000 units of the latter being produced per month..."
Magic Lantern Guide, Nikon D700
Magic Lantern Guides: Nikon - Simon Stafford - Google Books
Conventional wisdom used to be that lowered prices would push full-frame into the mainstream; based on the buzz on the Internets, it now sounds like higher prices will LOL!
Anyways, I think that I'm either in the wrong business or am spending my money on too many hobbies, as I can't imagine buying the D800 and lenses as a plaything!