Originally posted by GUB But probably good for Pentax. How many People would actually not buy a new Pentax body because of this? OK you could say Arpe:
I think Pentax people will keep buying Pentax. I am not sure third party manufacturers stopping K-mount production is good for Pentax overall.
I have been following the industry discussion from the Canon CEO and others, plus the recent CIPA numbers showing the continuing sharp fall off in interchangeable lens cameras - both DSLR and Mirrorless. If the predictions of 5-7 million units a year being where the industry settles, then the next question is who survives this level of shrinkage.
At this stage my predictions for survivors would be:
Canon - massive company, excellent glass, good brand/market recognition
Sony - massive company, own image sensor market, seen as leading innovation
Panasonic - massive company, very strong video, innovative, m4/3 and FF product
Fuji - massive company, excellent glass, iterate fast, good market focus, innovative
Leica - luxury brand, discrete niche product, enough people seem happy to pay the premium
Hasselblad - now had DJI backing, niche market, continues to innovate
Maybe Survive
Nikon - excellent glass, very well regarded product, but rapidly losing market share to Sony
Pentax/Ricoh - massive company (Ricoh), very small dedicated market, clear strategy to stay small and deliver to current market
Unlikely to survive
Olympus - smaller niche, only m4/3, not really delivering what the market is buying
The next few years are going to be brutal as the overall interchangeable lens camera sales continue to plummet, as phone cameras are sufficient for the lower end and encroach into the APSC market, and as more and more camera users reach 'sufficiency' and keep their cameras longer and longer between replacements.
Time will tell, but Pentax has its work cut out over the next couple of years.