Originally posted by FantasticMrFox There are so many things wrong with this, I'll have to address them one by one ...
a) Of course the K-1 is selling less numbers than the 5D Mk IV or D810 - Canon and Nikon are way larger than Pentax. That doesn't mean Pentax isn't selling large numbers relative to its size. In addition to that, the K-1 is a relatively expensive full frame camera. It will sell considerably fewer copies than a K-S2 or K70, but Ricoh makes more money off it and the associated lens sales. So it may not have any palpable impact on market share, but still be a financial success for the company. Have you checked Nikon's latest reports? Despite the introduction of the highly acclaimed D500 and D5, their market share has plummeted. And yet their income has increased. Meanwhile Canon's sales were steady recently, but their income decreased by 17%.
b) These numbers represent market share in Japan, as defined by sales through 22 major vendors. Some big vendors aren't factored in, so this is just an approximation. It is possible that Pentax' 2016 market share was inflated due to selling off old stock of cameras at very low prices, so the 2015 and 2017 numbers are a more realistic guess at where Pentax is standing.
c) Market share does not equal success. Ricoh has found a niche and is doing well that way - as stated in their last two annual reports, the camera business is turning a profit, and that profit has been increasing.
Conclusion: you can in no way make conclusions about how well the K-1 is selling from Ricoh Imaging's overall market share.
Considering lenses for K-1
15-30 is being bought from Tamron and then sold to us overpriced = almost zero profit
24-70 is being bought from Tamron and then sold to us overpriced = almost zero profit
70-200/2.8 and 150-450 are being produced in small quantities with significant manual work = probably even negative profit even though they cost those big prices, but development cost and manufacturing cost is huge... anyway these lenses are a must if one wants to sell at least some cameras.
Only lenses that create money are all those mass produced lenses with little glass elements and plastic bodies like 18-55, 50-200, 55-300, 18-135, 16-85, 40/2.8, 35/2.4, 50/1.8, where most of operations are performed by machines in large quantities.
c) Im not doing that. K-1 sales are well described by many sellers. After initial boom like 4-5 months after K-1 was introduced sales went down quite fast and now these bodies are on stock everywhere and Ricoh is starting with sales actions and rebates just to keep them selling at least somehow.
Reality.