Originally posted by monochrome There you go again with the static analysis. Nikon has a large market share because they have 7 bodies below $1200. Price/features = VALUE, which is more than competitive. Compact, durable, WR, great IQ, different cameras.
Ricoh plans to own and build Pentax for more than just one Fiscal Year
A simple view, yes, but not singularly focused. One must fully utilize what they have before they grow. They need to hit different price points but there has to be a point where releasing X number of camera bodies is costing more than generating. I suspect X is <= 4 for Pentax right now.
If it was as simple as throwing as many bodies below a price range then Pentax could be neck and neck with the likes of Nikon by the end of the year right? Now THAT is a static analysis. But we both know extra bodies costs extra money to design, convince/sell to retailers, advertise, etc. It takes baby steps than dramatic leaps which is partly what I'm getting at.. this is going to take YEARS and pricing is a big factor.
You don't release 7 dslr bodies into the wild and wait for the money to roll in. You have the cart before the horse -- Nikon can only do what they do because they already have the large market share... they can afford the extra weight of designing/supporting extra products and they have strong channels with retailers to push their products.
$900 USD for entrance into Pentaxland is NOT competitive. Because, at the end of the day, novices are going to look at brand names and prices such as:
''Nikon D3200 24.2 MP CMOS Digital SLR with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 AF-S DX VR NIKKOR Zoom Lens' for $700 USD
and
"Canon EOS Rebel T3i 18 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera and DIGIC 4 Imaging" for $750 USD
or even
"Canon EOS Rebel T1i 15.1 MP CMOS Digital SLR Camera" for $600 USD
and then perhaps see
'Pentax K-30 Weather-Sealed 16 MP CMOS Digital SLR' for $900 USD
and they will move to the Nikons and the Canons! Why wouldn't they? Branding, megapixels, and price will win at the cash register over WR, IQ, Image Noise, Bit Depth or any other factor that really does matter in photography; Nikon and Canon control the market on completely clueless shoppers who just want a 'big' camera and I'm going to wager its rather BIG business.
Go to any park, little league baseball, football, or other various youth event and see how many people have dSLRs and are hand holding them like they are a cellphone. It will blow your mind. Pentax needs in on this market almost as much as they need pro and semi pro shooters.. Lower the price on the low end. Or provide a lower tier product but not 7.