[jmsiowa]

From Newsline International



Pentax Corp. focuses on DSLR development


Hitoshi Sasaki who leads Japanese sales of Pentax digital cameras at a recent press conference made remarks regarding Pentax Corp. sales policies this year, reports JPEA International PEN News Weekly.

"We will keep focusing on DSLR as we did last year," Sasaki said. "The segment will demand not only the cameras but also interchangeable lenses and accessories, contributing much to the expansion of sales and profits. The lens line will further be enriched this year. In the "Optio" series compact cameras, we will review the lineup where models under ¥30,000 (US$270) are the mainstream to upgrade overall lineup. The approach may be made in terms of product development and sales strategy."

Sasaki contined: "As for Hoya/Pentax merger, the Pentax brand remains unchanged and scale of the company has been enlarged. The new parent company may ask for higher profit ratio and we will make due efforts in that direction, centering on DSLR. We may not pursue larger quantity but will try to make our customers satisfied with attractive products."

[mattdm]

Well, "The lens line will further be enriched this year" has me drooling.

[jmsiowa]

Well, "The lens line will further be enriched this year" has me drooling.

Me too!

I hope he means more than what has been announced already.

[Jodokast96]

And this

"The new parent company may ask for higher profit ratio and we will make due efforts in that direction, centering on DSLR."

tells me the bang for the buck will be a bit less while this

"We may not pursue larger quantity but will try to make our customers satisfied with attractive products."

means supply will probably fall short of demand.

[Crescent City]

The new parent company may ask for higher profit ratio and we will make due efforts in that direction, centering on DSLR. We may not pursue larger quantity but will try to make our customers satisfied with attractive products."

That part doesn't sound good. Who knows if it means anything, but one could read that to say, don't expect our dslr's to be priced below the comeptition in the future. It is also doesn't sound like Pentax and Hoya are on the same page. "the new parent company may ask." He makes it sound like they are two separate comapnies and the Pentax side doesn't really know what to expect going forward. Charlie

[marcuswoollen]

From Newsline International


"We may not pursue larger quantity but will try to make our customers satisfied with attractive products."

This part makes me nervous....does that mean they're not going to actively compete for marketshare?

[nathancombs]

i tell you guys what if ther new lens line is all digtal lens and you do not fell the need to keep your film stuff pm me and i will send you my adress to ship them to LOLOLOLOL i will not be buying any digtal lens

[Marcus]

I think the bodies will still give you more bang for the buck for the features but I have a feeling that new lens prices will be more.

[nathancombs]

I think the bodies will still give you more bang for the buck for the features but I have a feeling that new lens prices will be more.

have you see the prices on the old ones there going up as well AAAAAA

[lol101]

This part makes me nervous....does that mean they're not going to actively compete for marketshare?

I think they are being reasonable and are going to pursue rentability instead of market shares.


Relatively small series of good quality gear at higher profit margins.

That's OK for me as long as they keep it reasonably affordable (I guess we'll see about that in the next weeks with the MSRPs of what's going to be announced).

I need a good camera, not necessarily a popular one.

[Tom M]

This is nothing new - As soon as the K10D proved to be such a success (and the fact that Hoya bought them too) you always new the medium Format 645D would be back on track - which is of course, a low-volume, high profit dollar camera.. Look at the competition's prices on that type of digital camera, tens of thousands of dollars each with stratopheric lens prices to go along.. I called it, and I hope to cash in but, I've been buying up 645 lenses at a pretty good clip lately..

There will be a high-end DSLR to compete at the top with Canon, Nikon, etc - The middle-of-the-road DSLR to compete with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Olympus, Panasonic, etc and of course there will be the top-of-the-line medium format digital to compete with the likes of Hasselblad, Leaf, etc..

Having said that, how well this is all executed remains to be seen - Let's see what the 24th has in store.

[Gooshin]

i am under the impression that there is no more Pentax Corp

there is Hoya, who will create/develop cameras and sell them under the "pentax" name.

[nosnoop]

This part makes me nervous....does that mean they're not going to actively compete for marketshare?

This has been their position all along. They are not pursuing the No. 1 or No. 2; and they are not interested in the low profit margin mass volume models. As the D40 class model price drops further, the profit margin would continue to drop. And you need to sell a lot of those to be profitable. They would concentrate on higher specs higher profit margin models.

[TaoMaas]

I don't expect Hoya to do anything stupid. They've been around the photo business long enough to know what Pentax is and what it isn't. I look for them to either claim a niche, like coming out with the 645D at a price point close to the FF DSLR's or else build cameras like the K10D that offer a great bang for the buck, and then hope to make their profits on their lenses by controlling as much of the manufacturing process as possible. I don't expect them to slug it out with Nikon and Canon for the top end of the DSLR market. Look at how Hoya's filters are priced....they don't try to be B&W, but they try to get as close to that quality as they can while pricing themselves a bit above Tiffen. They're a great deal for the money. And that meshes with the Pentax philosophy pretty well.

[philmorley]

this whole statement could mean heaps or absolutely nothing at all, nice talk for shareholders.

re profits, it could mean more higher end lenses etc I would think that some the limiteds would be pretty high profit margin, at least in comparison to say rebadged samsung 50-200 which I bought for au$189 when pentax -> samsung -> aust distributor -> camera store are all making a profit.

not compete for marketshare to me means we aint going to try for number 1 spot (cause there isn't really any hope in the short term) that doesnt mean they dont want to be a big number 3 etc