[Kirivon]

It would be the height of naivete to expect any high ranking executive in a casual interview to lay out detailed plans about future company direction and products as you apparently would wish Ned to trot out.

No, I'm pretty sure presidents of companies break NDAs to gossip with internet journalists all the time. After all, they're the president. They do what they want.

The fact that Ned doesn't divulge specific corporate earnings, trade secrets, and information that would undermine Pentax's announcement at the CP+ show in March can only mean one thing: he's a figurehead with no real power.

[lesmore49]

deleted by poster...

[rvannatta]

No, I'm pretty sure presidents of companies break NDAs to gossip with internet journalists all the time. After all, they're the president. They do what they want.

The fact that Ned doesn't divulge specific corporate earnings, trade secrets, and information that would undermine Pentax's announcement at the CP+ show in March can only mean one thing: he's a figurehead with no real power.

I think it would have been completely irrsponsible of him to blab all the company secrets and plans. As you say quite a few CEO's do, but they also often cause great damage in the process.

Preannouncements kill sales of existing products, and inform competitors of future
plans. assurances that they are going to frequently freshen their product line with items that they think will sell is the proper thing to say.

IT is also clear from the interview that part of their plan is to present a consistent
face to the buyer. They aren't going to be reinventing themselves every year

[lesmore49]

I think it would have been completely irrsponsible of him to blab all the company secrets and plans. As you say quite a few CEO's do, but they also often cause great damage in the process.

Preannouncements kill sales of existing products, and inform competitors of future
plans. assurances that they are going to frequently freshen their product line with items that they think will sell is the proper thing to say.

IT is also clear from the interview that part of their plan is to present a consistent
face to the buyer. They aren't going to be reinventing themselves every year

Exactly. Couldn't say it better myself.

[Kirivon]

I think it would have been completely irrsponsible of him to blab all the company secrets and plans. As you say quite a few CEO's do, but they also often cause great damage in the process.

I know satire doesn't particularly play out well on the internet, but, I thought I was being sufficiently facetious with that one.

My post was intended to back up Lesmore's comments, which were pretty much spot on. There is a perceived level of ridiculousness at which I will no longer dignify something with a legitimate counterpoint, and the quote that Lesmore was rebutting was enough for me to default to biting sarcasm.

[Kunzite]

No, I'm pretty sure presidents of companies break NDAs to gossip with internet journalists all the time. After all, they're the president. They do what they want.

Yeah, like Adam Osbourne

[ilya80]

K-x successor will likely have AF point illumination in view-finder. Yay!

[ghelary]

I've had Pentax SLR cameras (and others, including Leica and Mamiya medium format) for over 40 years, used to work in the publishing field and years ago I earned my bread through photography...I wouldn't say I was naive or not aware of corporate manipulations.

In fact it appears to me that you are cynical without any real reason. It would be the height of naivete to expect any high ranking executive in a casual interview to lay out detailed plans about future company direction and products as you apparently would wish Ned to trot out.

There will be new products...of that I'm sure and when the time comes to introduce them to the consumer market, you can rest assured that they will...using a carefully planned and orchestrated campaign.

Remember the K7 intro ?

I don't want to start trolling, so it will be my last post in this thread. I don't feel particularly cynical here. What I want to say it that there are simply no valuable information here. I'm certainly not saying that Pentax is doomed (I'm not part of that Pentaxian tribe) but what said Ned is simply :
"Colored Pentax K-x is selling well, so expect to see more colors.

Hoya is expecting Pentax to be profitable and to finance its development." (Surprise !)

I don't see any other information in the message passed by him. The thing about not focusing on market share is small player speech. Nothing specific to Pentax, and it don't reveal anything on their focus (whether it is margin, market share on specific markets etc...)

And I don't image as well Pentax saying that they will concentrate on doing expensive crap. (to paraphrase your conclusion)

Now regarding what Ned could have given us as appetizer, he could have mentioned how much new cameras we would expect for 2010, how much new lenses. And we could get an update on Pentax commercial strategy in the US as he said in previous interviews that he would concentrate on web distribution.

I'm sorry if I looked so aggressive, but I hear the language used in this interview all day. And that adds up to the people saying that Pentax is doomed or on contrary that they are doing more than great from reading between the lines of such article. My point is that such speach is clearly designed to hold no message.

I sincerely doubt that anybody outside Hoya executives have a clear picture of Pentax future. If Hoya have any plan to sell Pentax, then it would be negotiated at very high level (Ned wouldn't be aware) and no info would leak before the details have been set. Before that everything shall work as business as usual.

On contrary of many pentaxians here, I believe that Hoya is taking Pentax seriously and have manage the company quite well since the takeover. Part of this good management is to deliver few information prior to actual release date of the products. However the world economy is in a very bad shape and will continue so in the next years, so Hoya may have to take some decisions on Pentax regardless of Pentax evolution compared to the competition. I hope that makes my opinion clearer.
Guillaume

[mecrox]

There is quite a lot of emphasis in the article on fun and fashion, on families, on women, on families trading up from compacts to their first DSLR (i.e., a k-x), and on k-x owners trading up from kit lenses to limited lenses. That strikes me as quite a good guide to how Pentax see their place in the market. If this means more action at the k-x level and on lenses, and less action on the k7 higher-end stuff, then so be it. At any rate, I don't think this interview is just a masterly example of how to say nothing. Quite a lot of the pictures en famille Ned Bunnell puts on his blog are straight down this line too. So I'd say the Pentax message is pretty clear. With the world economy so volatile and deb-ridden, though, any plans must be provisional and liable be swept aside. Also, I think we tend to overrate the importance of the USA and Europe as markets compared to Japan, China and the Far East.

[lesmore49]

There is quite a lot of emphasis in the article on fun and fashion, on families, on women, on families trading up from compacts to their first DSLR (i.e., a k-x), and on k-x owners trading up from kit lenses to limited lenses. That strikes me as quite a good guide to how Pentax see their place in the market. If this means more action at the k-x level and on lenses, and less action on the k7 higher-end stuff, then so be it. At any rate, I don't think this interview is just a masterly example of how to say nothing. Quite a lot of the pictures en famille Ned Bunnell puts on his blog are straight down this line too. So I'd say the Pentax message is pretty clear. With the world economy so volatile and deb-ridden, though, any plans must be provisional and liable be swept aside. Also, I think we tend to overrate the importance of the USA and Europe as markets compared to Japan, China and the Far East.

I agree that I think that we tend to over rate the importance of North America (Canada and the USA) and Europe. Certainly these markets are big and it's important to do well in these areas.

But China and India are burgeoning markets for many pricey consumer items. GM...may be licking their corporate wounds right now, but are still a force to be reckoned with and GM as with many other auto manufacturers have been focusing efforts on catering to the Chinese market. GM's new Buick LaCrosse has a design that was heavily influenced by the wants of the Chinese market....because a very large chunk of Buick motor sales (possibly # 2 in Buick sales, behind the USA and ahead of Canada) are from China.

The potential is enormous there and sales of automobiles and luxury items such as high end cameras (DSLR) continue to escalate on a yearly basis.

India is not far behind. In 10-15 years it will be a very interesting world insofar as which countries will provide the largest markets for expensive goods.

It is a difficult adjustment to make for many North American's and Europeans to accept that the dominant spheres of influence in this world of ours are undergoing a shift.

[seacapt]

A bit of an anti-climax - but what can we expect from a media interview?

1. Did we learn anthing about the name of Pentax partners ? (appart from Samsung)
2. If Pentax keeps loosing money (they're almost even at the moment), under which delay will Hoya take a decision ? And what decision ?
3. Will Pentax continue to integrate Samsung sensors ?
4. What about the upcoming Pentax 645D ?
5. Any news about lens roadmap ?
6. What about the future body lineup ? How many bodies, which calendar ?
   And the ultimate Pentax forum troll:
7. Will Pentax release a FF camera and when ?

Clearly, it is not in the politics of Hoya/Pentax to reveal those informations. So I'm not surprised of not having it. I think you are over interpreting what Ned said regarding the status Pentax within Hoya.

Guillaume

Interviews like this is like political promises before elections. They are great for filling empty spaces.

Did anyone really expect to get the real story from an American representative of a Japanese corperation? Ned was given a script by Corp Japan , to say anything other would be career suicide.

[lithos]

Ned was given a script by Corp Japan , to say anything other would be career suicide.

Seppuku. In Japan, it would be sepukku.

[Kunzite]

Ned was given a script by Corp Japan

Somehow, I doubt that.

[redpigeons]

small slr with fantastic small primes! that's what I love about Pentax and recently a fell in love with it again .

I was like all of my friend falling for the FF promise, but learned to realize that its not as important to me as size is as long as the image quality is excellent . and the IQ on my K20D is fantastic


design is impotent to me as well and I think its impotent to a lot of people including professional photographers .

I want a dslr that has classic (retro) design like the LX or K1000 for example .

wow LX look and the DA ltd together... such a beauty !!

[seacapt]

Somehow, I doubt that.

Ever work with a Japanese Corperation?