[Uluru]

An installed user base is always your best friend and worst enemy no matter what you are selling.
Questions of whether there is a better mousetrap aren't really of much interest to me. Maybe the Q is the future, but not my future.
When it comes to FF, if pentax makes one, I'll probably buy one, but not because I need it or have been pounding on the table for
it. If Pentax abandons the K mount, I'll probably go buy two or 3 of the best model they made on close out and bury them in the back
yard for future use, but I"ve been using Pentax since the Spotamatic and any change at this point in my life doesn't make a lot of sense.

What I didn't address in my deliberation is that Pentax jumped into the future first, but did not really address all the needs of its current and loyal userbase before that. It seems they are doing that now, which explains why is there so many expectations, complaints and nervousness about each new announcement.

[froeschle]

Thanks. However, it seems like the interviewees just had visited the seminar


How to reply to questions without actually answering them

Rule No. 1:

Use a random number generator to answer the posed questions with one of the following sentences:

01 - We can't talk about it right now, please wait until a later date.
02 - Right now I cannot give you any details on it.
03 - Something that we cannot say right now, but we are thinking of addressing this.
04 - I’m sorry, I cannot comment on it until we make an official announcement.
05 - We will sell something in 2013. We cannot say what it will be right now.
06 - We understand that we are getting those opinions.
07 - This will be examined based on each respective concept.
08 - Pentax Ricoh Imaging is reviewing it.
09 - Well, we are considering that right now.
10 - We are thinking of addressing this.
11 - We can say that we are quite positive about it.
12 - We are in the middle of discussions as to how we proceed.
13 - Right now we are considering what to do from now on.
14 - We had that sort of idea.
15 - We have many new ideas which we are considering for the next model.
16 - We wish to eventually fill this gap.
17 - We have plans to put out more exciting products, so please look forward to it.
18 - If demand increases, we will consider it.
19 - The improvement and the addition of other features are vital.
20 - Pentax Ricoh Imaging will want to put out unique and interesting cameras that excite people please look forward to that.
21 - That does not mean that we are giving up.

Rule No. 2:

Intersperse only one vague positive commitment like

"Right now in the development team we are looking to become number one in autofocus."

Rule No. 3:

To make it more vivid, show some signs of emotion like

*smiles*
*laughs*
*slightly nods*
*freezes*
*falls asleep*

[Asahiflex]

LOL, that's a very good summary of the interview!

[froeschle]

On the other hand :

From Business Japan 102:

Japanese Business Culture - "Yes" means "No" and "Yes" means "Yes". Which "Yes" is the real "Yes"?
[...]
The easy "no" answers are like "I personally like it" which is a dead give away for saying "no". Others are like "I'll see what I can do" and "We'll meet internally and discuss it".
[...]
I've often heard from my Japanese associates that foreigners, especially westerners always tries to get a "yes" answer from them to close a deal when they are not yet ready to give such an answer. However, foreigners many times make a mistake thinking that the Japanese side said "yes" because the foreigner asked the Japanese "do you agree" and the Japanese said "yes" so the foreigner thought but what the Japanese was actually saying was "yes, I understand (English) what you said but I did not say that I agree with what you said". The Japanese was merely acknowledging what the foreigner was saying.
[...]
The other side of the coin is the same. Usually, Japanese do not say "yes" or show "positive reaction" directly or immediately.
[...]

Tatemai: Business Japan 101

[THoog]

On the other hand :
From Business Japan 102:
Tatemai: Business Japan 101

Thanks for those links - that's what I learned about business Japanese back in the early 90's. Put in the context of Tatemai and Hon-ne, the interview answers are pretty straightforward - most of them translate as "No, we are not going to say anything specific about that." For the K-01 question - "We haven't completely discontinued it." = "What, are you crazy? Would we sell it at less than a third of the original price if it wasn't discontinued? At this point, we're just trying to get rid of the %^&*#! thing."