I posted something very similar in another thread, but it seemed appropriate to share here as well, with a few updates based on new information. Forgive me if you are reading it twice...
I have been through this before. I grew up on a farm. My dad always drove Ford trucks and we also had a blue Ford tractor. In the 90's Ford Motor Company sold their agriculture division to Fiat. Over several years time Fiat removed the Ford branding, replacing it with the New Holland moniker (New Holland was a subsidiary of Ford's agriculture division that produced forage equipment). It did not happen all at once. First the New Holland name was added to the tractors in small letters below the word FORD. After a couple years they traded places and New Holland moved to the top with a small FORD below. Next the FORD was dropped all together. Finally the iconic blue oval on the front of each tractor was replaced by a newly created blue New Holland symbol.
I love Pentax, and I hope the name does not go away. I am disappointed that these new WG's are branded Ricoh. If they could put "Pentax" on the lens however, it would make me feel a little better (for that matter I think it would be a good move to start putting "Pentax" on the lenses of the
GR's).
Who knows what the long term branding stagey will be? I sure don't, but I hope they do as they have said and keep the PENTAX name on the ILC and sports optics. If they don't? Well, I will be disappointed. I will even be upset, and then I will get over it and buy a Ricoh K-1. After all, it is the product I love. The name has meaning, but that meaning is an association to the product.
If the Pentax name goes away I will get over it and continue to buy nee Pentax products. I know because another company whose products I love did this to me before... and right now I am in the market to buy a blue tractor.