Seems like a good time to post this...
A couple years ago, Dave Etchells (once E-I-C of Imaging-Resource) interviewed several executives of Ricoh Imaging. It was from this interview that some photography websites (ahem) decided to post clickbait headlines stating that Ricoh predicted most MILC users would return to DSLR. Here is a segment of that interview, which I feel includes necessary context for how Ricoh anticipates Pentax's presence in the market to play out.
Dave Etchells: ...This is maybe just another way of asking the question about mirrorless, but while the overall market for interchangeable-lens is decreasing, DSLR is decreasing more rapidly. How has that been felt within Ricoh, and what are the ways that you intend to combat that general decline?
Hiroki Sugahara: Currently, mirrorless is a newcomer, so of course many users are very interested in the new systems, they want to use [them]. But after one or two years, some users who changed their system from DSLR to mirrorless come back to the DSLR again.
Dave Etchells: Really?
Hiroki Sugahara: I believe. Because as I said before, each system has its own benefits or appealing points. The mirrorless camera is very convenient to shoot, because users can [preview the final] image before shooting. But I believe the DSLR has its own appealing point, because users can create their own image from the optical viewfinder. People can see the beautiful image through the optical viewfinder, and then think how they can create their pictures -- for example, exposure level setting or white balance or ISO [sensitivity] -- and then imagine how they can get [the result they're seeking].
Dave Etchells: Mmm, mmm.
Hiroki Sugahara: That is one of the big [advantages] of shooting [DSLR] cameras, so some users will come back to the DSLR system. But it might be they use both systems, DSLR and mirrorless. Because each system has its own benefits.
Dave Etchells: Yeah, yeah.
Hiroki Sugahara: So the DSLR market is currently decreasing a little bit, but one year or two years or three years later, it will [begin] getting higher.
Dave Etchells: You think it will return, will start growing again.
Hiroki Sugahara: Yeah. Yes, yes.
Dave Etchells: Hmm, interesting. I do think it's true that users don't decide they're going to go to a new system, sell everything they have and get it. Usually, they'll get a body and a lens, and then maybe they buy another lens, but it's not like they're typically throwing out their whole camera system.
Hiroki Sugahara: Yes, yes. So they have lenses for DSLR, so they can come back to DSLR easily. They can just buy a new DSLR body, and then they can easily come back to the DSLR system.
Dave Etchells: Mmm. In many cases, because mirrorless has a shorter flange depth, then they can also use their SLR lenses with mirrorless. And so in that way, too, it's another reason for them not to discard the SLR. They can use both systems as each is best.
Hiroki Sugahara:Yes, exactly.
https://www.imaging-resource.com/news/2019/05/14/ricoh-interview-sub-frame-m...ss-will-return