Originally posted by MadMathMind (...)
That's way more development than we've seen for the K-1 in half the time. Fuji doesn't have some magically enormous marketshare either. (...)
Fujifilm's Electronic Imaging division of their Imaging Solutions segment, the division that is made of the Fujifilm X cameras (including the medium format GFX) and their lenses, was 2.4 times bigger than Ricoh's Smart Vision in 2016 and 4.6 times bigger in 2017.
Fujifilm's Imaging Solution segment also includes the Photo Imaging division: films, photosensitive papers, on-demand photo printing activities and, above all, the Instax ecosystem, the cash cow of the Imaging Solution segment. This division is 2.9 times bigger than their Imaging Solutions division and 13.5 times bigger than Ricoh's Smart Vision.
The 2017 9-month operating profit of the whole Fujifilm's Imaging Solution segment is 3.6 times bigger than the sales of Ricoh's Smart Vision.
Operating profit on Fujifilm's side, sales on Ricoh's side, the former being 3.6 times bigger than the latter: that gives quite a leverage to spend some sensible money on the development of cameras and lenses!