Originally posted by DeadJohn Wrong, it's mostly a volume problem. Moving zero units in a month isn't going to get a place like Best Buy to carry stock regardless of the theoretical profit on a future sale. 0 units sold = 0 profit.
Given the current market, I am not criticizing Ricoh for not launching an expensive marketing campaign. They might be waiting, hoping for one of the bigger camera manufacturers to fail.
That much volume is the CaNikon failing business model. It is evident Pentax does not
want to be in Best Buy, or any other high volume / low profit margin distribution channel. They can't make enough, and refuse to gear up to make enough, product to supply that channel.
Yet we demand the same features and diversity of bodies as CaNiSony - at a 20% lower price. We want a small, nimble, premium, value product without any mass-market baggage. How much more money, per camera, are you willing to pay for a marketing campaign, dealer support, warranty, service, distribution, availability and everything else - because YOU are going to pay for that, nor 'RICOH'.
Good. Fast. Cheap. Pick two.