Originally posted by RobA_Oz I don't want to get into an argument about words, but none of that shows they are worthy of your word "dilettante", even if any of it is demonstrably true. I don't question your first or your last two points, by the way, but they only show the differences in culture between the two companies. However, I think the GR, whatever real or imagined problems there may have been with getting it to market, is a real photographer's camera, and indicates to me that the company is serious about cameras. The re-bodying and re-pricing of the K30 as the K-50 and K-500 shows they are aware of the price sensitivity at that end of the DSLR market. The incremental work on the Limited DA lenses indicates a commitment to improvement, too.
So, I repeat: "dilettante" is not an appropriate criticism to throw at Ricoh for their management of the Pentax brand. As for Sony, they may be exciting, but making a profit doesn't seem to be within the remit of their consumer products division, so what word would you use to describe that?
Their new Theta camera is absolutely simple and beautiful.
It was clearly inspired by iDevices by Apple, and it doesn't matter because iDevices are the measure of a good standard today.
So I welcome their efforts in understanding of the consumer market, and willing to take into it.
However, in corporate talks and reports, they refer to Pentax acquisition as a "traditional camera business, that has cost us ...". They talk cost, not opportunities. Their CEO talks about "they have shown me some numbers ..." when talking about Q. I wonder if he has even seen one in real life, took some care about its development? But he is all over the moon and personally present in showrooms when talking about multi-million $ document machines for some business partners.
Do you see the difference? To succeed in the consumer market, what they do with Pentax must change. They can't wait 2 years till the acquisition settles to start thinking "
what to do now re Pentax brand consumers?". That is so wrong! That also shows they have had other plans for Pentax too, to help in their optics, security and in other b2b purposes.
They needed to start doing something right after the acquisition, and a saying "
good things are coming" has
no place in consumer market – it's a deadly sin! That could be said in confidence to b2b partners, but absolutely not to consumers! No wonder consumers are damn frustrated.
I hope you understand why I call them amateurs. I don't bash the new product, but their attitude in many matters is so damn wrong.