Originally posted by Rondec I just think you release such a camera and you end up stealing sales from the K3-III and K-1 and not generating any new business. Why would someone buy such a camera over a 6D or D610? Particularly considering the current cost and stable of Pentax glass available. From Pentax's standpoint, stealing sales from the K-1 only makes that camera less viable.
Some people would buy the proposed camera over the 6D and D610 for the same reasons that people are buying the K-1 - they think it's a better camera. Honestly, the thinking behind your post is pretty pessimistic. Your talking like there is a fixed pie of Pentax users that are being cut up between models, which basically means there's no long term future for the brand.
Personally, I do think they have a good chance of grabbing new brand agnostic users as long as they have the right line up. There also seem to be some lapsed Pentaxians returning, and some disgruntled users of other brands being tempted across. Unfortunately, in Japan they have a huge gap between the 90,000 yen K-3ii and the 245,000 yen K-1. That's quite a formidable difference, and it could even put off APS-C Pentax users from staying in the system. When you factor in the most basic lens, the cost of entry into K-mount FF is 300,000 - far more than Canon, Nikon or Sony. I'm not saying the K-1 is bad value, even at the Japanese price, but it's a hell of a lot of camera that many people don't need.
I don't think that would release a cheaper camera to soon, but once the sales of the K-1 start to slow down, it would seem like a good time to introduce a cheaper model.