[Sandy Hancock]

Bummer. I have pre-ordered the Theta Z1. Guess I'll just need to be patient.

---

Last edited by Sandy Hancock; 03-19-2019 at 02:07 AM.

[Mistral75]

Aren't the G900 and WG-60 closely related? Something technical - such as automating some assembly - could easily affect both of them.

Indeed, those two are closely related but Theta Z1 is completely different: a 360° camera with 1" sensors vs. waterproof cameras with 1/2.3" sensor.

And why postpone the G900 more than two months before its due date? WG-6 and Theta Z1 were postponed less than 10 days before their tentative release date (on 18 March for end March).

[RGlasel]

And why postpone the G900 more than two months before its due date? WG-6 and Theta Z1 were postponed less than 10 days before their tentative release date (on 18 March for end March).

Could it be a regulatory issue? There aren't many components shared between the WG series and the Theta series and there must have already been some production to prime the pump for a release date only 10 days in the future.

[RonHendriks1966]

The fiscal year is ending soon on March 31th........So no expenses allowed to be made at this stage........

I think this is more about finances then anything else.

When I look at this then in the next fiscal year we will see the Theta Z-1, but probably never hear again about G900 and WG-6.

Maybe the first sales round for GRIII was good.....but not excellent wich maybe would be nice for the balance.

[MMVIII]

The fiscal year is ending soon on March 31th........So no expenses allowed to be made at this stage........

I think this is more about finances then anything else.

When I look at this then in the next fiscal year we will see the Theta Z-1, but probably never hear again about G900 and WG-6.

Maybe the first sales round for GRIII was good.....but not excellent wich maybe would be nice for the balance.

Thanks Ron. Your speculation is always so... revealing. But I find it nice to have a constant baseline for negativity. I don't have to wait until facts appear, your explanations always manage to drag anything down. I'm sure you are fun at parties.

[gaweidert]

This has been the pattern for all of their releases. Since they seem to have no production facilities of their own, they must purchase time slots from other companies. If they miss their slot they have to wait until they can be rescheduled. If they grease the skids, then they may be able to get placed earlier in the schedule.


Third party manufacturing may be a reality, but you lose all control over delivery dates and in many instances even quality. The third party manufacturer is also under shareholder pressure to produce profits so they do whatever they can minimize costs. Now two sets of shareholders must be satisfied. For whatever Ricoh does not manufacture in house they are at the mercy of their contractors and the contractors know it.

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

...
The official reason for the delay is: 'Because it takes more time for final adjustment to achieve the planned performance' (予定している性能を実現するにあたり、最終調整にさらなる時間を要するため)
No new release date has been decided yet. The cameras are said to be 'coming soon' (近日発売)

This has been the pattern for all of their releases. Since they seem to have no production facilities of their own, they must purchase time slots from other companies. If they miss their slot they have to wait until they can be rescheduled. If they grease the skids, then they may be able to get placed earlier in the schedule.


Third party manufacturing may be a reality, but you lose all control over delivery dates and in many instances even quality. The third party manufacturer is also under shareholder pressure to produce profits so they do whatever they can minimize costs. Now two sets of shareholders must be satisfied. For whatever Ricoh does not manufacture in house they are at the mercy of their contractors and the contractors know it.

Interesting. One could read this as "we got the first shipments and they weren't good enough, so we've rejected them. Like we've had to before...".

I was poised to pull the trigger on the Z1, too, although it's pretty hard to justify for my use cases. Given that, and the new uncertainty, I may just grab a refurbished V for now, and see what happens over the next few months...

[Kunzite]

Since they seem to have no production facilities of their own

Any actual information about this, or it's pure speculation?

[victormeldrew]

Maybe the first sales round for GRIII was good.....but not excellent wich maybe would be nice for the balance.

I was fully expecting the first shipment to be exhausted by preorders and then a wait for the second round before stock was available off the shelf. But both the main dealers here sent out their preorders and have stock left...without more information it's total guesswork but maybe sales didn't quite get up to predictions. But it is just as likely that they produced a very large first run with the intention of having ample stock and moving production over to the other compacts.


Either way they might not have sufficient cash in the coffers to tool up for these other models.

Or they might just have overrun on the GR production and ran out of time. The initial predictions seemed to suggest February for the GR so thar might make sense.

[Larrymc]

Any actual information about this, or it's pure speculation?

What do you think?? We seem to have more than our share of economic and production experts as forum members.

[Kunzite]

What do you think?? We seem to have more than our share of economic and production experts as forum members.

Right. Our camera companies which we founded and are running are quite successful - unlike Pentax

[rangercarp]

Since they seem to have no production facilities of their own,

You seem to be forgetting the lens factory in Vietnam where all Pentax lenses are made (save for the Tamron rebadges and the Q series) and the factory in the Philippines where the Pentax bodies are produced. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you were referring to compact cameras, some of which have been produced by third parties. However, that does not jive with your talk of other delayed products. I assume that is referring to the Pentax lenses, produced in house at the Pentax (Ricoh) factory. I am not aware of any recent delays of products that have not been produced in house. Let me know if I am missing something.


As to a reason for this delay, my best guess would be that the early produced examples were not meeting quality standards.

[BigMackCam]

Not enough pre-orders from shops maybe?

They should send wg-6 and G900 back to the drawing table and put a good lens on it and a bigger sensor inside.

Theta Z-1 will always be a commercial gamble at that price. It just takes balls to put it in shops.

Well there is plenty of stock for wg-60 and wg-50, so there is absolutely no sense for shops to put their money into inventory of just another the same snorkelcamera like wg-6.

CP+ is just 3 weeks ago. There is something more serious to this then just an unexpected delay in production. We will learn more in the future.

Remember the Nikon DL line that never came...... There is no sense in putting a product in production when you know you won't break even on sales.

When I look at this then in the next fiscal year we will see the Theta Z-1, but probably never hear again about G900 and WG-6.

Maybe the first sales round for GRIII was good.....but not excellent wich maybe would be nice for the balance.

As I've explained via PM, Ron, negative comments and speculation - especially from someone who has moved away from Ricoh / Pentax equipment - don't help discussions like these. If you had skin in the game, the context would be somewhat different...

[TwoUptons]

Maybe their box supplier is running behind on orders...

Or the company that makes those little bags the instructions go in ran out...

Could be anything

-Eric

[gaweidert]

Any actual information about this, or it's pure speculation?

My experience as a QA, Service and Field Engineer when using such facilities for manufacturing. From items as small cameras to as large as platesetters that image printing plates for the printing industry. It is amazing that quality that was not acceptable when made in house suddenly becomes acceptable to management when made elsewhere. If the in house facility would have been allowed to drop quality levels they could have made it less expensive too. A real pet peeve of mine.