Originally posted by LaurenOE I'm already prepared for this. I've been wanting Pentax to move upscale and become more professional. There are so many accessories that Pentax used to make, but don't anymore. I never bought into the "Pentax = Low Cost". I've never understood people who thought that was a Pentax "thing". Pentax used to be the best regardless of cost. We are getting price increases that - hopefully - will fund other things. Pentax never has the volumes to justify low prices given the level of quality. Let Canikon make cheap cameras. Short term - pain in these prices, but long term, I think it's going to be a good thing for those of us that want more "professional" out of Pentax.
IMHO you understand precisely Ricoh's plan. I am always amazed when a poster threatens to go to Canon for a FF or more "professional" support and a 1.4x TC or a shoe-mount EVF or a generally broader lens lineup - then threatens to go to Canon when less prices rise. You can have one or the other but not both low prices and high service.
Originally posted by parsons i agree. but i also think that the prices will move down to the demand. perhaps not all the way down to where they were, but somewhere closer than they are now
Before prices decline to a clearing level Pentax needs to send a signal that resellers who supply the gray market will no longer receive inventory to resell. I think (I know nothing and perhaps it isn't fair to list names, but) a BigBox outlet like BestBuy or internet distributor like Crutchfield might over-order to get end-bracket wholesale pricing, then sell-off excess inventory to down-market internet low-margin distributors. You see these as Amazon affiliates when you price something and on eBay. Amazon actually has to compete with these affiliates on price.
It will take a couple years to rebuild the channel in USA. EU and Asia won't be affected because they never left the traditional channel.
To understand what Pentax is going to do look at how Nikon does business and where there are opportunities shaving customers away from Canon and Sony. Nikon is the business model and reputation target, Canon and Sony are the sales targets.