Originally posted by mecrox I can't help feeling there's no substitute for building better cameras, widely supported through sales/marketing and available in a store near you at a price you're prepared to pay. Everyone else seems to be doing it. Maybe that's a bit of a hint? The rest is just talk really - unless it is code for Ricoh being unable or unwilling to do that, in which case somewhere not far down the line it's Goodbye and Thanks for All the Flash.
That's one business model.
It requires lots of capital (Nikon and Canon and Sony have a lot of capital tied up in factories that must be paid for whether revenue declines, stays the same or rises) that has to be serviced by lots of revenue. It requires lots of capital to hold inventory that has to be turned to service the capital. It requires lots of capital to offer Dealers financing, that has to be serviced regardless of revenue. It requires lots of Reps, and distributor support people who have to be paid regardless of revenue - and people are
very expensive. It requires lots of capacity to feed the Costco/Target/BestBuy/Walmart revenue-per-cu.ft.-day
contract and capacity requires capital - (
you don't get paid full value if you don't deliver the volume, and you don't get paid full value if the inventory doesn't turn). Volume turn requires lots of advertising that has to be paid for
just to make the revenue.
Clearly, revenue is declining. Apparently, CaNikoNy aren't making profits and apparently, Ricoh is.
It's sort of an old-school business model that everyone else
has done. But if the revenue declines
permanently and the already-in-place capital can't be serviced - well, what then? Overproduction, fire sales, brand destruction, layoffs, losses, angry shareholders (Nikon - Sony) - nothing good!!
What if Ricoh isn't
behind the curve? What if Ricoh is actually
ahead of the curve?
What if they don't actually
need to compete with CaNikoNy? What if competing with CaNikoNy head-to-head is actually a bad business decision? If one camera maker leaves the market in the next five years what if is ISN'T Ricoh?