Unless ofcourse the camera is absolutely ready.... If there is still work to do on the camera then I think they should reconsidder!
Here is my look on this subject.
Ricoh Imaging is a small company. They have limited resources. Wheater this is engenering power, production facility's, advertising knowledge or sheer budget ($$ you can only invest once).
K-1
There is a lot of work done on making the K-1. There are people waiting for this camera. There are promises made. But still. If the camera is ready, but not yet in production. Then there is still a moment to think about this. Putting the K-1 in production means investing a lot of money. If I would make just a wild guess on this. You plan to make a production run of say 25.000 camera's. For this you spend money on making your production plant ready. You put out orders for materials to make those camera's. You spend time on training staf. You start working on a plan to promote the camera and make those sales. If I make an estimation on this........You spend at least 25.000.000 $ on this K-1 before even one camera leaves the factory to go to a customer. This investment is for the production to come, and all expenses made in development are not in this and just part of this years fiscal numbers. You have to start to invest those 25.000.000 $ to get a step to your customers and put the K-1 in shops.
VR
The coming hype for 2016 and very likely some years to come is Virtual Reality. Buying a smartphone that works great with your new Virtual Reality glass is a thing that is going big. For that there is a need for content. Game makers are going in. Movie makers will do that soon. Many company's would like to see if there is some market to fill. Ricoh is already one of them. The Ricoh Theta S is a content maker for private use (basicly it is a gadget for consumers) to make content people can show on those new VR glasses. For Ricoh as an early player in this field, there is a market to win. You can also wait and see how others take it from you.
How to invest?
I would invest these 25.000.000 $ in the Theta project:
- The Theta S is a great little cam. It is a Consumer product. It makes nice Footage, but not on a professional level. That in itself is not a problem. There is a lot of market for people who are willing to spend their $$ on a great gadget as the Theta S.
- The Theta S should be on sale in stores where people will buy their new smartphone and their first Virtual Reality glass. That means the Theta S should be in stores where there are now mostly no products of Ricoh Imaging. That are many more stores then currently camera stores are left over.
- There should be a new and even better performing Theta model for consumers this year. This is a project for developing a camera with better sensor performance. Building on the current Theta.
- There should be a professional grade Theta in development to make market this year. Professional image quality that can be used in projects for company's that want to earn money in Virtual Reality. This maybe can be made build on the knowledge build with the Theta S, but ofcourse for better IQ you need bigger sensor surface.
I think when investing their money in VR there is a bigger chance to make money. Even a lot of money when done right. Setting up new sales channels for Theta, making some dust and wind to Let people know that Theta is the camera they are looking for, setting up production (you have a lot more inventory for such a project) and developing new projects will break those 25.000.000 $.......
I think this would be the wise way to procede the camera business. With 645Z, a nice aps-c K-mount line and the Theta there is a great portfolio. Investing in K-1 fullframe would be a project for when money is coming back in the company from the investment in Virtual Reality!
Last edited by RonHendriks1966; 01-09-2016 at 05:27 PM.