Originally posted by BigMackCam I'm only speculating (because that's all any of us can do), but I suspect there may have been one or more key components in the K-3 / K-3II that were no longer available in sufficient quantities to support another production batch run and warranty repair stocks.
I can also believe something that's been rumoured and discussed here in the last year or two, which is that the KP was indeed intended to be the new APS-C flagship, but the user community feedback was such that Ricoh realised they'd missed the target in some areas.
It's highly unlikely we'll ever know, so our speculations will remain just that...
The way I see it is that there was some exploration going on for a while, with the K-S1, K-S2 and the KP, possibly even with the whole Q series and the K30/50/70. Nothing like as broad or often as Sony was doing around the same time, but nonetheless it seemed clear to me that some niches were being investigated, such as lighter weight and the low cost/feature balance. The KP has emerged as the probable most successful of those (though it would be interesting to know the relative sales of the KP and the K70), which leads me to think that it’s a line (or maybe just a “line of thinking”) that will be further progressed after the new “flagship” APS-C body is released.
I don’t think we’ll be seeing a repeat of the proliferation of new Pentax models as in the recent past, at least not for a good while, and hence the time taken to release the new body. I doubt there’s a plausible business case for doing anything like that, now. Nikon is pushing out new models and struggling financially and with keeping up its new lens line, and I suspect Canon is only able to stay ahead because of its market share and sizeable loyal customer base, but even so might be subsidising its camera lines to push ahead of Sony and crush Nikon. Ricoh’s in no position to subsidise a similar move.