[bobmaxja]

Finally

[Quicksand]

But he could have raised instead of folding

True -- but it's entirely possible that's what he did and that's why he's now "retiring."

It's possible he pushed back as hard as any of us on the lens pricing shenanigans, for example.

Who can say? Not me.

[vonBaloney]

Just remember: "There is no Ned."

[crewl1]

I wonder (and some have hoped) if this will trickle down to the (non) marketing team at Pentax USA.

I was actually surprised that information about the new product announcements was actually featured same day on the website this time.

[Cannikin]

Well, hopefully come October we'll find out once and for all whether the unilateral pricing policy really was Ned's idea, or PRIC Japan's.

[lukulele]

No surprise there. Pentax was doing a crap job of marketing in the US. Just look at the presence of Pentax on the shelves in Canada as a comparator. Ned's a nice chap, but his leaving is a positive thing for Ricoh Pentax, IMO.

This summer we walked into The Camera Store in Calgary. Everything in stock. Pentax, Ricoh and all the brands plus incredible sales help.
Maybe a Monochomatic vision has a future stateside.

[DaveHolmes]

You can bet he got one hell of a gold watch/handshake out of it...

[riff]

No surprise there. Pentax was doing a crap job of marketing in the US. Just look at the presence of Pentax on the shelves in Canada as a comparator. Ned's a nice chap, but his leaving is a positive thing for Ricoh Pentax, IMO.

I was at a weekend photo shot with a local club last weekend (Canada). There were 13 shooters, 10 Pentax, 2 Canon, 1 Panasonic and no Nikon. At least half the Pentax shooters had more then one body. The Pentax bodies were 1 K20, 1 KX and the rest K5s.

[sjwaldron]

Noboru Akahane, the President of the Pentax itself, probably wants to take personal responsibility for America (the problem child? ). Maybe Ned didn't want to be micro managed at his age (James Malcolm looks quite a bit younger and has connections to Ricoh).

[wanderography]

Maybe he retired because he's old, he's old and pentax is now under heavy new management which wants to get shit done and now work days are probably longer and no longer sitting in front of the computer on company hours watching youtube instead getting the job done. Probably had a team of ricoh inspectors come in rock the building and he was like "screw this I quit, I do not want to have to work", and not only that it's america, regulations in any commercial building in america is seriously ruthless and heavily inspected by the government so it does not burn down and ruin whatever neighborhood it's in, and with the job they were doing in the US I would not doubt the workplace reflected that.

[crewl1]

I've seen in acquisitions the purchasing company will keep the senior executive around for a set period of time to show continuity, but in reality the execs are put on the shelf or tasked with some side project and when their pre-contracted time expires they 'retire' per the agreement.

So if this is a year since the purchase then the timing is expected.

I doubt Ned had much if any influence once Ricoh took over.

[vonBaloney]

Maybe he retired because he's old, he's old and pentax is now under heavy new management which wants to get shit done and now work days are probably longer and no longer sitting in front of the computer on company hours watching youtube instead getting the job done. Probably had a team of ricoh inspectors come in rock the building and he was like "screw this I quit, I do not want to have to work", and not only that it's america, regulations in any commercial building in america is seriously ruthless and heavily inspected by the government so it does not burn down and ruin whatever neighborhood it's in, and with the job they were doing in the US I would not doubt the workplace reflected that.

They are in a brand new office in a high-rise in downtown Denver. Don't think they had too worry about the sprinklers...

[Allison]

Maybe they pushed Ned out because they finally realized how ridiculous it was to have a Leica shooter as the head of Pentax USA. Even if Leica was Ned's favorite brand, publicly he should have been blogging about only Pentax. It would be like me being sponsored by Pentax, but then shooting with Nikon and telling everyone about it....in Ned's case it would have been fine to be a Leica shooter if he had been private about it. Ahh, maybe I am just in a bad mood tonight, but this announcement kind of made me happy.

[bdparker]

Most recently Mr. Malcolm has been working with Ricoh Company, Ltd. in Japan on the post-acquisition integration of PENTAX on a global basis. His insight and experience have set the direction and provided the vision needed to initiate management changes, including compliance with merger strategies.

The way this read to me is that they want to push the Ricoh branding of Pentax harder in the US. and/or maybe the Pentax management weren't playing with Ricoh people to well.

[wanderography]

Maybe they pushed Ned out because they finally realized how ridiculous it was to have a Leica shooter as the head of Pentax USA. Even if Leica was Ned's favorite brand, publicly he should have been blogging about only Pentax. It would be like me being sponsored by Pentax, but then shooting with Nikon and telling everyone about it....in Ned's case it would have been fine to be a Leica shooter if he had been private about it. Ahh, maybe I am just in a bad mood tonight, but this announcement kind of made me happy.

I didnt know that, I would of fired him too. Thats bad press, thats like rob dyrdek being sponsered by alien workshop and riding on tony hawk skate boards. Thats horrible, good riddance. Hopefully he cant find a job to afford his leica gear anymore (but a job well enough to take care of his family, cant wish evil upon someone).