Originally posted by GateCityRadio I always said camera companies should get their names into the smartphone business....I believe several PF members told me it was a stupid idea but it looks like Ricoh and Canon don't think its such a bad idea. Just look at how smartphones have taken a chunk out of the P&S market.
I believe we are on EXACTLY the same page here:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/275204-ricoh-wg-30-wg-30w-3.html
(see post # 39, from just YESTERDAY!)
Regular cameras, as in "image capturing devices" could be easily seen as what use to be the "snail mail system" worldwide with stamps included. With the web and e-mail, plus e-trade and safe transactions, added to digital signature, the regular mail (snail mail) has almost no reason to exist. Except maybe in some fourth world small country or abandoned island who still live in the dark ages. All mail companies that have survived the e-mail, e-trade business, have transformed into "couriers" that do nothing more and nothing less than to carry back and forth all the stuff bought, sold, traded, "stolen" or whatever, by the e-trade business.
It is not Nikon or Canon who Pentax has to fear about for future markets, especially in the compact camera market. Its precisely Apple, Samsung, Nokia, HTC, Blackberry and maybe others, that already have a good chunk of the smartphone markets and are everyday improving their built in "image capturing devices" (cameras), with the facility of instant sharing, storage (cloud) and social networking interaction.
Remember that for many years, the pro photographer market was "subsidized" by the Sunday shooters. It is because of their size of business, that pros had film availability, pro labs for printing and slide developing and such. As soon as the regular Jane and John switched to digital and no longer purchased film and developing (printing) services, the photo market avalanche started with an obscure and sometimes unbelievable ending. Film is no longer available at the regular channels, neither is photo finishing and whatever is left, it is on unbelievable prices and very scarce in availability.