Originally posted by RaduA ...
From infos provided by falconeye some weeks ago (from the Hoya financial report if I am not wrong) I remeber that the main market for Pentax was Europe (for the fiscal year that ended in spring 2008), second was Japan and third North America. I expect that in this year the rift will only deepen with Europe and Japan way ahead of N.A. in sales.
Regards,
Radu
Brand awareness is
definately skewed to Canon here, then Nikon. I'm not sure how different Canada's actual sales might be from the US though as Pentax seems well stocked in my neck of the woods at least.
There are three main camera shops within walking distance of my downtown condo which all have a full line of current Pentax equipment in stock. A major satellite, shopping mall type retailer in the area also carries Pentax, but its lower profile in the display case tells a story.
Of all the people who I've met who have a casual interest in photography, it has only happened once that one owned a Pentax DSLR (and thankfully it was at my hotel, on my holiday when I'd left my charger at home, I was able to bum a recharge to get me through). Otoh, everyone who I've personally been asked to help them buy a camera either bought a Pentax or respected the value they represented. None had considered Pentax before my suggestion.
Pentax could benefit from flaunting their in-body SR more with a brief, easy to grasp explanation, in the end, its that, image quality and comparative pricing that people I've talked with have warmed up to with respect to the brand. It seems with the K2000 and its intended market that Pentax might finally have the tool to arm their people with to attack this undecided, growing entry level market. If Pentax play their cards right here by supporting this camera with agressive, educational marketing they could be poised for a bit of a come-back. It does seem the K2000 is a well placed product.