Originally posted by Rondec I think people really underestimate the effect COVID has had on manufacturing new stuff. Whether it is getting parts, keeping factories going and workers healthy or just local shut downs, these are challenging times and it isn't surprising if the K-new is delayed.
All that has to happen is for one part out of the hundreds in a camera to be delayed or be unavailable to make the entire camera delayed or unavailable. I’m running into this on a daily basis with suppliers not being able to fulfill orders on everything from magnesium anode rods to circuit breakers. It sometimes makes little sense, but if a factory that makes rivets is shut down, everything that uses those rivets in manufacturing or assembly is also shut down unless an alternate supplier can be found, which can range from being difficult to impossible.
---------- Post added Oct 18th, 2020 at 09:16 AM ----------
Originally posted by rawr Who really knows. They bailed before bringing a product to market.
Anyone who was following the development of the product at the time knows.
The MZ-D was supposed to leapfrog Pentax into an early lead in DSLRs and revive the company, which was showing signs of being in trouble. Marketing wanted it badly, the engineers at both Pentax and Kyocera knew they had a losing hand with the sensor, which was an unmitigated disaster.
Pentax bailed and survived in the short term, but with little financial reserves, Kyocera was somewhat more desperate and knew that if they bailed they were dead, but if they were able to make the sensor work they stood a chance of surviving.
Obviously, it ended badly for both companies. Kyocera disappeared shortly thereafter, Pentax lasted a few years longer, but the company failed anyway. They simply didn’t have the resources to compete after that.