[fsge]

Isn't that a problem on many of the threads on the forum? The continual demands for improved this and that seem to ignore this fact in some sort of belief that Pentax can compete with 'the big boys'

Doing more with less is asked from everyone nowadays. It is not a bad exercise...

[photoptimist]

Yes.








There will always be problems.


But good companies, with good staff, will turn those problems into successes.






But we aren't talking about photography, we are talking about business. The business of selling photographic gear. And without customers, there is no business.






There are 2 rules for a successful business.


First the customer is always right.


Second, if the customer is ever wrong, refer to rule number one.





You and I both know there are many loudmouths here. Look at how active the News And Rumors section is, and how heated the discussions get.






Only if the company doesn't actually hear what the customers are saying and then respond with a good product, at a price the customer will pay.





Absolutely.


And a good, successful company will meet those challenges and succeed.

Those are very good points.

And yet "photographic gear" is a sprawling industry which forces every one of the photographic gear companies to say "no" to large segments of photographic gear customers. You are correct that they lose these customers. But if the cost of getting & keeping those customers exceeds the price those customers are willing to pay, then they are the wrong customers.

Pentax is ignoring all the smartphone camera customers, instant film camera customers, large-format camera customers, M43 camera customers, luxury chest-jewelry Leica customers, retro-brass optic Kickstarter customers, Lomo customers, etc. What all those billions of customers want for photographic gear is not something Pentax can readily supply at a profit.

No company can successfully be all things to all customers. Every photographic gear companies specializes to address one or more subsets of the market. The only customers that are right are the right customers for the company. The biggest challenge for a company is in selecting a sufficient number of right customers, serving them with dedication, and then ignoring the rest no matter how numerous or noisy they may be.

[kwb]

Just FYI.

This is a press release of KP from RICOH Imaging Japan on Jan/26/2017.
??APS-C???????????????????????????????PENTAX KP??????RICOH IMAGING

The title of the very thing is (emphasis mine)

新型APS-Cサイズセンサーを搭載したミドルクラスのデジタル一眼レフカメラ
「PENTAX KP」を新発売
～夜景をスナップできるISO819200の超高感度撮影を新設計の小型ボディで実現～

or

New release of middle class digital SLR camera with new APS-C sensor

PENTAX KP.

Super high sensitivity ISO 819200 lets you shoot night scape with newly designed small body.

You're welcome.

[mecrox]

Those are very good points.

And yet "photographic gear" is a sprawling industry which forces every one of the photographic gear companies to say "no" to large segments of photographic gear customers. You are correct that they lose these customers. But if the cost of getting & keeping those customers exceeds the price those customers are willing to pay, then they are the wrong customers.

Pentax is ignoring all the smartphone camera customers, instant film camera customers, large-format camera customers, M43 camera customers, luxury chest-jewelry Leica customers, retro-brass optic Kickstarter customers, Lomo customers, etc. What all those billions of customers want for photographic gear is not something Pentax can readily supply at a profit.

No company can successfully be all things to all customers. Every photographic gear companies specializes to address one or more subsets of the market. The only customers that are right are the right customers for the company. The biggest challenge for a company is in selecting a sufficient number of right customers, serving them with dedication, and then ignoring the rest no matter how numerous or noisy they may be.

True, but also a recipe for rutsville. If you put everything into serving your present customers and nothing into preparing to serve your future customers then eventually, when your present customers are so old they can no longer tell the difference between a camera and a roast chicken, you are in a spot of bother. You do have to know who your customers are but you also have to know who your customers are gradually becoming, too. So stay agile.

[Kunzite]

So what's your solution, for when two customers are asking about mutually exclusive things?
What's your solution, when the customer say, "I want you to do this extremely costly strategic change, but I'm not interested in spending one dime"?
What's your solution, when the customer asks for something impossible?
What's your solution, when the customer is a paid shill from the competition, looking only to spread FUD?

Some customers are more "right" than others.

[monochrome]

True, but also a recipe for rutsville. If you put everything into serving your present customers and nothing into preparing to serve your future customers then eventually, when your present customers are so old they can no longer tell the difference between a camera and a roast chicken, you are in a spot of bother. You do have to know who your customers are but you also have to know who your customers are gradually becoming, too. So stay agile.

You develop some younger people into your customers over time by demonstrating that your product meets a need that develops as they mature.

[beholder3]

There is no universal business case.

Olympus and Panasonic still exist. According to "internet guy wisdom" the mFT format should have died long ago.
Same applies to Fuji, who still do not have a FF camera.
Worse yet, Fuji is making much more money on film (!) cameras than mirrorless.

"Customer segmentation" is an important term. Also understanding that (unless you are Canon) you do not need to (and do not have the funds to) cater for each and everyone.

[jeallen01]

.....I had given myself until November of 2018 to wait to wee what happened, but now ....

I hope you don't "wee" on Pentax in the meantime!

PS: not going FF anytime - unless it is VERY light and VERY cheap!

[Mistral75]

"We are now starting to develop a new DSLR which can be positioned as the successor to the K-3 series."

CP+ 2018 Pentax Interview - YouTube

[Kunzite]

Let's see when it appears. If it's 3 years from now, I'll believe they are barely starting - and that one year their entire R&D did only the K-1 II and some "research"
(He's not a native English speaker by the way)

[dstar]

May be we need to wait before Adam add interview with Pentax representative.At list we may be find out what will be short road and long planning road to pentax
We can add her everything what we dream to add in our camera .But only questions if they listen or they have ability to create this. Money Money money market and tim
I work with electronic equipment long time and dream and scream for change ,but .......very little coming true.

[Mistral75]

I'm not so sure that three years are needed to develop a new DSLR, even a high-end APS-C one.

Remember that there were 16-month intervals between K10D and K20D, between K20D and K-7 and between K-7 and K-5.

[Kunzite]

I actually have no clue how many years are needed since they consider the development for a specific product "started", to the market announcement.
I remember Samsung claiming it took 3 years for their NX. I remember Ricoh Imaging saying they started working on the K-1 before the K-3 (and actually said in October 2012 they're working on a FF DSLR - the interview is somewhere on this forum).

Things can also be developed in parallel.

[BigMackCam]

I'm not so sure that three years are needed to develop a new DSLR, even a high-end APS-C one.

Remember that there were 16-month intervals between K10D and K20D, between K20D and K-7 and between K-7 and K-5.

When those cameras were produced, digital camera technology was still fairly immature. By the release of the K-5 series, though, cameras were already extremely capable. The K-3II might now be discontinued, but both it and the K-3 it was based upon *still* offer phenomenal image quality and impressive performance. Arguably, it's only the AF.C, high ISO performance and buffer processing that are obvious areas for significant improvement, It takes an awful lot of additional development to squeeze just a bit more out of each area. On top of that, the market has changed... Most people already have highly capable digital cameras. Many will need to see a considerable step up in performance and features before they'll buy a new body... So it makes sense that development cycles will be longer.

All of that said, it sounds like the K-3II replacement might be a way off. Further than many hoped for and expected. But I imagine it'll be worth waiting for

[Chris Mak]

From the interview: "we put our resources mainly to the development of full frame lenses".
So the K1, and of course the "alternative high end APS-C camera" KP are the direct causes for the postponement of a next generation flagship K... series.
But from the interview as a whole, it does appear that the new K3 style flagship will be one of their next important projects, so sept.-oct. 2019 is possible, although that is still some time away.