Originally posted by Kunzite FTR, since the statement you're talking about no change in the public lens roadmap occurred. On the contrary, it got reinforced by the pre-announcement of 2 lenses, and the implicit confirmation that it's still valid when it was reposted with the same lenses.
A change in the lens roadmap does not indicate pursuit of more market share, but could in fact simply being keeping and enhancing the current marketshare. They may in fact be manufacturing the number of lenses they need to service their current market, and every one of those lenses is done better or equivalent, often cheaper and lighter by some other company. They aren't offering something that is going to attract millions of users from other companies, because those companies don't have what Pentax offers. The Pentax version of the Trinity was the minimum they could get away with after they introduced the K-1. The 50 and 85 at least in concept were originally done by Sigma and pimped by DxO. The strategy where may be to just look at what's popular from Sigma, and assume, Pentax could sell those lenses if they made them. Especially since Sigma is no longer supporting K-mount and any appreciable way.
You present evidence, but, I'm not sure it means what you think it does. They are a camera company, they introduce lenses from time to time. Not introducing new lenses means you are no longer a camera company. Introducing new lenses is just what you do if you are a camera company. What strategy is behind it is completely unknown, except fr the part where they want to sell high end expensive lenses with high profit margin capability. And that supports the "profit margin" strategy more than "trying to gain market share" strategy.
At this point Pentax has pretty much abandoned new development for photographers like myself to produce Canikon and Sigma "Me too" lenses. If they were looking for market share I'd expect more entry level product and less really high end product. Apart from the DFA 28-105 and 55-300 PLM, there is nothing for us poor folk to get excited about, if we are shopping for lenses that cost under $1500 CAD.
That is an extremely restricted market. All the deals I see at Henry's are $600 entry level cameras. Those are the cameras that produce great market share numbers.
Current flickr numbers list Pentax K-30-K50--K-5 as 108 users. They list the K-1 and K-3 and GRII combined as a combined 42 users. Without a real camera by camera breakdown it's hard to tell, but it certainly looks like all but the DA*11-14 and DA 55-300 PLM are aimed at the smallest segment of their user base. IN the breakdown of users the Average Daily users for the K-3 is 152. For the K-1 138 K-3II 78
Including all Pentax models from before Ricoh, K20D -K-5 there are an average of 5006 daily posts. Add in the K-3 and K3II numbers and the numbers are over 700 APS-c user posts a day.
The K-1 is 108.
Pentax is moving towards high end glass even in APS-c with the announcement of the DA* 11-18. Profit margins not volume. 2/3s of their development is aimed at the 1/8 of their customer base that might be interested in premium product. Only the 55-300 is for us plebes.
Unrelated observation... there seem to be a lot ( as in a healthy majority) of Pentax customers that have never bought a Ricoh made Pentax. The guy who wrote "why I won't buy a K-3" must have been on to something. If Pentax were interested in increasing market share surely they'd be making something for those folks.