[WillWeaverRVA]

The financial reports for Q1 2019 (April-June) were posted on the Ricoh website.
Overall we're talking about some decrease in sales, but an increase in profit. And Ricoh is switching from the RESURGENT phase to the IGNITE phase, whatever that means.

Note that the D FA* 50mm f/1.4 effective sales didn't start in that period.

Nothing much is said about cameras, except for:
- "improvement of profitability relating to industrial optical components/modules and cameras"
- "Demand solid for the Ricoh Theta and other digital cameras (about the same as year earlier)"
Smart Vision sees a slight boost in sales, actually.

Financial Announcement | Global | Ricoh

"IGNITE"? Is Ricoh going to take a page out of the Samsung book and start building exploding cameras? Or maybe they'll start promoting Pentax lenses as a great way to start a fire if you get lost in the mountains while shooting nature photography?

[RGlasel]

Camera sales in last quarter where 4,4 billion yen.

Sales for April to June 2018 for Other business segment were 44,688,000,000 Yen, of which 829,000,000 Yen was in the Americas region. (Page 15)

I don't think they're getting much money on the upgrade - it's a tedious operation made by third party service units.

I should have included new K-1 II bodies in my statement, there must have been a surge in Pentax FF camera sales during this quarter compared to the previous quarter (which is sales to distributors, not end users). I can't recall what new products were released between April and June 2017, which is what the financial results are being compared to.

[Mistral75]

Sales for April to June 2018 for Other business segment were 44,688,000,000 Yen, of which 829,000,000 Yen was in the Americas region. (Page 15)
(...)

Indeed but the Other business segment includes:

- Industrial products (industrial optical components and modules, electronic components, precision mechanical components): ¥13.0bn
- Smart Vision (Pentax and Ricoh cameras including Theta): ¥4.4bn
- Other (3D printing, healthcare business, financial services and domestic power retailing business): ¥27.1bn

Source: http://www.ricoh.com/IR/data/pre/pdf/h31q1_1.pdf page 9.

[RGlasel]

Source: http://www.ricoh.com/IR/data/pre/pdf/h31q1_1.pdf page 9.

Thank you, I did not see this page when I was examining the financial results. Only the quarterly report breaks out sales by region and it only does so for the entire Other segment. To add some perspective, Smart Vision is less than 10% of revenue for the Other segment and Other is less than 10% of Ricoh's entire business. If the CEO allocates his days of work according to how much revenue a product line generates, Pentax will not get more than 2 days every year. This is a good situation for managers who try to maintain the status quo, a terrible situation for managers trying to gain status.

---------- Post added 07-27-18 at 05:49 PM ----------

Any guesses as to what positive sales trend for Pentax and Ricoh cameras is occuring in Japan and nowhere else?

Now that I see that the domestic healthcare, finance and power retailing businesses account for 61% of revenue for the Other business segment and Smart Vision is just under 10%, there aren't any conclusions that can drawn about Pentax sales by region. Large decreases in EMEA and Asia must be primarily from the Industrial Products division.

[EJPearl]

Pentax must survive. What's really amazing is that Pentax cameras and lenses are, for the most part, head and shoulders over the comparable models under other names. And the prices are more affordable for what you get. Is it marketing? Is it lack of name recognition? Is it poor management? Is it that Pentax cameras are more work horses and less trendy? Or is it that Pentax cameras demand excellence, and demand that their owners become familiar with the many options available outside of AUTO? Don't know the answers. But, I do know that Pentax is the best for what I want and for what I can afford.

Now, if they'd only improve the video quality. But, then, most serious photographers don't buy a DSLR for video. Right?

[bobmaxja]

Go Ricoh , I dont care were they sell their photo gear, if american dont want it , who care. This brand will survive as they do thing who are different than the big 2 ( Sony is not there, they are a consumer brand and when consumer feel it not good they move (Sony up and down are : Betamax, Walkman, Xperia, VAIO, Bravia, NEX) . Next could be Alpha....

[ogl]

Pentax must survive.

Must live, not survive....

[RonHendriks1966]

To add some perspective, Smart Vision is less than 10% of revenue for the Other segment and Other is less than 10% of Ricoh's entire business. If the CEO allocates his days of work according to how much revenue a product line generates, Pentax will not get more than 2 days every year. This is a good situation for managers who try to maintain the status quo, a terrible situation for managers trying to gain status.

The current CEO does not have much history with the camera business. It was the former CEO Shiro Kondo that made the deal to buy Pentax. He has a history of working in the camera business of Ricoh back to the seventies. I met him in 2012 at the Photokina exhibition in Cologne. So he had more then two days a year. Now I think those two days of attention will be all there is.

[Kunzite]

Because only one person in the entirety of Ricoh could support the Smart Vision business?

[RonHendriks1966]

Because only one person in the entirety of Ricoh could support the Smart Vision business?

Sometimes that is all you need to thrive.

[beholder3]

Of course not. We don't have any resident naysayers that would do that.
Cue resident naysayers in 3, 2, 1...

So funny to see them parade along.

[stanislaw]

Ricoh has done nothing since introduction of GR and demise of GXR system. It could boost Pentax sales picking an idea from GXR. Namely making a set of most used focal lenses with leaf shutter and of course a camera to go with it. Ricoh could make an ruggedised waterproof version of GR. Ricoh could listen more to photographers then book holders as it did in good old days of GR film and GRD digital days. Ricoh could support Ricohforum that closed after 11 years due to modest financial problems. Ricoh could give Pentax interchangeable optical finder like in LX models, just to make different from competition. List is long.
Written by faithful user of obsolete GXR m mount and GR cameras.

[ffking]

Resurgent is cutting costs and capital expenditures, Ignite is increasing profitability on existing business and starting to spend money on capital again.

I learn so much about so many field from there forums - so much more than just photography

[johnmflores]

Ricoh has done nothing since introduction of GR and demise of GXR system.

Theta.

[ffking]

Or is it that Pentax cameras demand excellence, and demand that their owners become familiar with the many options available outside of AUTO?

I think that's mostly it - Pentax cameras can produce top quality images, but demand a little more work on the part of the photographer than some brands that have the automation more highly perfected - and having your gadgets do it all for you is currently popular. The other thing is the lack of a true professional support structure - few professionals go for Pentax, so people looking to see what the pros use don't go for Pentax. But as long as Ricoh want to keep Pentax going, their strategy of going for excellence in areas where they have the capacity and adequacy in others will suit the people who currently love the brand and may bring slow but solid market penetration, which is what Ricoh seem to be good at.[COLOR="Silver"]