[texandrews]

I would think the development of the K-3III cost multiple millions of dollars/euros. The fully burdened annual cost of a good engineer is probably $250k a year or more. I'm guessing the development team needed 3, 4, 5 or more work years of that type of person per year, and the development continued over 3-4 years. Just labor was probably $3-4 million. Hardware, tooling, software, licensing, facilities, utilities, taxes, testing, QA, setting up the production line, regulatory and certification efforts... probably more $million(s). I'd be floored if the total cost of development of the K-3III was less than $5M, and I wouldn't be surprised if it was twice that or more.

According to a quick interwebby search, optical engineers in Tokyo are more like $135Kusd/yr. I'd bet Pentax pays a bit less, Sony a bit more, & etc. So, probably 1/2 your labor costs.

[zzaletel]

While the quarter was profitable, you've probably got a longer payback period, something akin to this (generic internet payback curve, not actually germane to Pentax K3-III profitability):

[ThorSanchez]

According to a quick interwebby search, optical engineers in Tokyo are more like $135Kusd/yr. I'd bet Pentax pays a bit less, Sony a bit more, & etc. So, probably 1/2 your labor costs.

Is that their take-home pay? Because in the US if someone makes $135k/year I'd expect the cost to the company after payroll taxes, insurance, benefits, etc to be over $200k.

[aslyfox]

Ricoh posted their financial results for Q1 FW 2021 (ending March 2022).
I think that could be interesting, since this period includes the effect of the K-3iii.. . .

I'm confused - March 2022

could that be March 2021

and the K 3 III went on sale after that date so how could its sales be included ?

mine:

Ordered on April 6, 2021, first hour availability, received it on April 23, 2021, Manufacture Date March 16, 2021

[Kunzite]

I'm confused - March 2022

could that be March 2021

and the K 3 III went on sale after that date so how could its sales be included ?

mine:

Ordered on April 6, 2021, first hour availability, received it on April 23, 2021, Manufacture Date March 16, 2021

Nope, it's the fiscal year 2021 which will end by 31 March 2022.
Q1 of FY2021 is from April 1st 2021 to June 30 2021.

[reh321]

I don't think that selling the K-3iii for a single quarter could offset the entire R&D expenses (several years of development); perhaps this camera alone can't even do it, but together with other cameras sharing the same technologies...

I did take two accounting courses - as part of the coursework which led to my MBA. There are probably two ways of looking at the photo business - a cash view and an accounting view - and they differ. This is not a trick, just different ways of looking at the same facts. The 'cash view' looks at cash in and out, while the 'accounting view' looks at longer term measurements. From a 'cash view'. R&D has already been paid for, supported by other company operations; GRiii sales, and other sales, have supported the company for the last few years while the R&D has occurred. Now that K-3iii sales have begun, only now will the cost of K-3iii R&D show up on the books, along with fixed and variable costs of producing them. For the next couple of years. these costs will be charged against sales .... hopefully leaving some profit for the company. After the K-3iii R&D has been paid for, any other K-3iii sales will only be matched against fixed and variable costs of actually producing the K-3iii, and the price will probably be allowed to 'droop', as the price of the KP did at the end of 2018.

[aslyfox]

Nope, it's the fiscal year 2021 which will end by 31 March 2022.
Q1 of FY2021 is from April 1st 2021 to June 30 2021.

said I was confused

[Walkingwolf]

...I am hopeful that Ricoh will see this as confirmation that updating the K-1 series is a good next step - I'm sure there's lots of people waiting for that one.

Yes!
I, me and myself are anxiously awaiting it...!!

[lotech]

I don't understand finance and have no interest dig deep into it, but one statement caught my eyes on the FY2021 Q1 result it said "Operating profit improved in all segments", if DSLR business belongs to the Digital Product sector then it has grow by +10.7. I don't know how good or bad big brothers compare to Ricoh, but I'm sure Pentax is full of confidence as it announced earlier to continue focus on DSLR (rather than mirrorless).

[clackers]

I don't understand finance and have no interest dig deep into it, but one statement caught my eyes on the FY2021 Q1 result it said "Operating profit improved in all segments", if DSLR business belongs to the Digital Product sector then it has grow by +10.7. I don't know how good or bad big brothers compare to Ricoh, but I'm sure Pentax is full of confidence as it announced earlier to continue focus on DSLR (rather than mirrorless).

DSLRs belong to the Other segment, Lotech!

[lotech]

DSLRs belong to the Other segment, Lotech!

Oh IC !

[GlassJunkie]

Japanese Accounting rules are very detailed on how R&D costs are allocated... Asahi (Now Ricoh/ Pentax) is a proper run, conservative company. I believe their quarterly report....

---------- Post added 08-04-21 at 10:52 PM ----------

While the quarter was profitable, you've probably got a longer payback period, something akin to this (generic internet payback curve, not actually germane to Pentax K3-III profitability):

I am 100% comfortable with Japanese enterprise accounting. It makes FASB look loose... As an MBA, and CFE (Board Certified Fraud Examiner), i would look at many, many, many US/ EU firms before I questioned Ricoh/ Asahi. Simple for me... I'd invest in that firm...

[RGlasel]

The newly arranged Other segment (includingTheta and "other" environment and healthcare products) is 1.3% of Ricoh Company's total revenue, so it doesn't really matter how profitable it is, the only thing that matters is that management doesn't decide to eliminate certain parts of Other, such as Pentax cameras and lenses. Which is a good thing, because Other had an operating loss of 38.6% on sales in the first quarter of fiscal year 2021 The silver lining is the statement that this loss is "owing to new business investments," not because the camera business is unprofitable.

In the bigger picture, Ricoh has successfully adapted to a radically different environment for manufacturers of photocopiers. It has become a company that manufactures hardware and provides software for remote office workers and it is making money doing that.

[lotech]

Japanese Accounting rules are very detailed on how R&D costs are allocated...

Yeah it is very tidy and detailed like their products !

[Jonathan Mac]

Which ones?

That's the point, no D FA* was launched recently.

There are only two. Lenses don't have to be launched in a quarter to boost sales or profit for that quarter. Sales for the system will have gained some momentum over time with the launch of these two high quality primes, especially once the prices start to come down.