[benjikan]

I would like to suggest starting a Petition aimed at Hoya in regards to sustaining Pentax in the event they decide to drop the brand. I think it is important that we become pro-active and not wait around like cattle off to the slaughter house. Believe me, I am ready to call the President of Hoya to give him my point of view which will be quite compelling to say the least. I have the "Kahuna's" to speak directly to him as I have with many CEO's in the past..Just another human when it comes down to it.

Let's get the e-mail address of Hoya, Japan and compose a letter stating how disappointed we would be if they were to discontinue the Pentax brand and how that would affect our perception of Hoya and all brands associated with them.

I doubt that they will drop the brand, but let's show our loyalty to Pentax with a strong message...Don't play with "Mother Pentax!"

I am not concerned, as it would not affect my status or jeopardize my position as a photographer, creative director or music composer.

Let's Do It!


Ben

---

Last edited by benjikan; 05-20-2007 at 01:28 PM.

[kskjon]

I second that!

[Paul_C]

[ot]
Kahuna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cojones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[/ot]

[benjikan]

[ot]
Kahuna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cojones - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
[/ot]

I'll Stay with Kahuna, didn't want to be too vulgar..I know how that can get your hand slapped...

[maleek]

It strikes me that the energy and enthusiam that you have are very valuable indeed for Pentax. A passionate voice for your tool of choice, let's make that into many voices!

I fully agree in other words. I think that the petitions emphasis should not be easily reduced to be "the voices of disgruntled owners". But focus that there are passionate enthusiasts that see the potential of our system of cameras to extend and offer something unique. Like an "open letter from the Pentax community". I am not authorative with skills and knowledge enough to write such a letter, but I have no doubt that the community has.

[Bob Tuttle]

Why would a filter company, after buying a camera company decide to stop making cameras? It is not logical. Looks like a frog swallowed the eagle.

[wll]

I would like to suggest starting a Petition aimed at Hoya in regards to sustaining Pentax in the event they decide to drop the brand. I think it is important that we become pro-active and not wait around like cattle off to the slaughter house. Believe me, I am ready to call the President of Hoya to give him my point of view which will be quite compelling to say the least. I have the "Kahuna's" to speak directly to him as I have with many CEO's in the past..Just another human when it comes down to it.

Let's get the e-mail address of Hoya, Japan and compose a letter stating how disappointed we would be if they were to discontinue the Pentax brand and how that would affect our perception of Hoya and all brands associated with them.

I doubt that they will drop the brand, but let's show our loyalty to Pentax with a strong message...Don't play with "Mother Pentax!"

I am not concerned, as it would not affect my status or jeopardize my position as a photographer, creative director or music composer.

Let's Do It!


Ben

Ben, I agree, I'm VERY upset about this deal and I don't want to see Pentax die !!!!



wll

[MikePerham]

I agree! Although I am not sure what Hoya's intentions are, I think it would be good to show support for Pentax, the Camera.

This should not be a rant, or disrespectfull in any way. Just supportive of the Pentax brand.

Mike.

[Jonson PL]

Sounds like a really good idea.
It even beats my ideas of letter bombs to Hoya HQ, I thought it could be a quick laugh for them, and some workers could get some hours of. I call it in; signing The Pentax Avenger.
(I.A. Irony applied)


Seriously though, I think it could be a fine idea for us users to voice our demands.

Here is some info on their HQ’s, but I haven’t found their email to Japan Public Relations. That could be the best place to send our concerns. Maybe some of the Japanese users could find the information on their site.

Should they try to hurt the Pentax camera brand, I will of cause never buy Hoya products again, and I’ll spread the word. If millions of former Pentax users did the same, they might listen in the end.

I don’t think it should be an open letter, I think they should be bombarded with emails, from users.


HOYA CORPORATION
(Hoya group global headquarters)
2-7-5 Naka-Ochiai, Shinjuku-ku,
Tokyo 161-8525 Japan
TEL 03-3952-1151
FAX 03-3952-1314

Hiroshi Suzuki, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hoya Corporation.


HOYA CORPORATION USA
Sales Office
101 Metro Drive, Suite 500
San Jose CA 95110
408-441-3300 (outside U.S.)
800-818-HOYA (4692)
fax: 408-451-9562
email: opticsales@hoyausa.com




From a news release, there is this info :

Hoya Corporation establishes a venture company to produce a new semiconductor.
Mr.Fumio Kitahara (CEO: Hoya Advanced Semiconductor Technologies)
1-17-16 Tanashioda, Sagamihara-shi, Kanagawa 229-1125 Japan
e-mail: kitahara@hast.co.jp

But it would seem a little harsh to let it all go out on poor Mr.Fumio Kitahara
:-)

or manager of investor relations Naoj Ito:
naoji.ito@mb.hoya.co.jp

from this document ;
http://www.hoya.co.jp/english/pdf/annual01_3_1.pdf


Maybe I’ll send a mail to Akiko Maeyama, Hoya spokeswoman in Corporate Communications, then they can direct me in the proper direction.
Found at the bottom of this document :
http://www.pentax.co.jp/english/news/announce/20061221-02.pdf

They are the ones that are writing : “For enquires please contact”

CONTACT: Contact Information: Akiko Maeyama, Naoji Ito, Corporate
Communications, Hoya Corporation, Tel: +81-3-3952-1166, E-mail:
ghq-pr@mb.hoya.co.jp
Hoya Announces Fourth Quarter and FY2006 Financial Results


Maybe we should all set a date to write, e.g. Wednesday 12 o’clock. That way they won’t just shut it down, when the first ones hit the inbox, and they will see that many people are behind the Pentax company and values, as it is now.

I don’t mean to scam them, or annoy them in a negative sense, but they must supply some means of communications via Email.


Benjamin calls Hiroshi Suzuki, or who ever they direct him to. And the rest of us, can send regular mail or emails to Hoya Corporation in Japan.

Let the games begin

[nosnoop]

I think we are jumping the gun here.

Can't we just wait at least till the details of the deal is known? All that are circling around are rumors. Hoya never said that they would get rid of Pentax Imaging division right away. The previous statement from Hoya a few months ago was that they would consider selling off the imaging division if it did not do well. And the revised deal that the current Pentax CEO is trying to make with Hoya is for Hoya to retain Pentax's 3 core divisions including the Imaging divisions.

And Pentax Imaging division is doing quite well at the moment. So I don't sense any imminent demise.

[Matjazz]

Even thou I don't believe that they will abandon camera division, it can't hurt letting them know that thre is a growing number of dedicated Pentax users and that trashin camera division woulkd be a loss.
Just in case they have second thoughts.

[Kunzite]

It's a good idea, IMO. They should know we will support the Pentax brand (not only with words, but with our money).

[Jonson PL]

Now I’ve written a mail to Akiko Maeyama, Hoya spokeswoman in Corporate Communications.

I couldn’t in the English Hoya site find any direct PR address; maybe some of our Japanese members can help out here.

On a general note, I fear for the artistic freedom of Pentax. They’ve always been kind of the oddball of camera companys, going their own way. First in inventing autofocus in the ME F camera; then doing nothing about it, never really doing any advertising, coming up with limited lenses in an old school way that many companys said couldn’t be done anymore, making pancake lenses, not really putting too much emphasis on shovelling home money but having more fun putting out interesting products instead, etc.

A fun article on it all, is this one from Mike Johnson :

The K-1000 of Digital SLRs


When it was originally brought forth that Hoya might sell of the Camera Division, if it wasn’t profitable; a user from Japan stated the following :

“That little blurb is simply a statement by Hoya that if it turns out to not be profitable (to merge with Pentax), they will be able to seperate out and sell the Pentax business.
Just as in any business decision.
What many of you don't understand is that currently Hoya and Pentax are not yet merged, and the board votes won't even be for several months, and legally the goal isn't until this October. Between now and then Hoya quarterly reports will show that the company has been less profitable that in recent past.... so some stock holders may be a bit nervous about taking on a merger at this time.
This is Japan, and the natives tend to be a bit less secure than many of you may realize. Japanese can be hyper-conservative.
So the Hoya execs are just comforting the stockholders... affirming to them that the proposed Pentax deal is not an eternal commitment. If it turns out to not be a good deal Hoya, even after the merger, will still be able to sell off the Pentax business. Which anyone dealing in private companies already knew!”



Here is my letter to Hoya, I didn’t have that much time, so didn’t elaborate more than this :


Questions regarding Hoya Pentax merger

Dear Akiko Maeyama,

I’m sorry to disturb, but the Hoya Pentax merger talks, have raised some issues.

If it is a burden that I have contacted you, please redirect me to Public Relations department, or suggest another mail address that I should contact.

I use various photographic equipment, and am about to make the transition from film to digital SLR; the K100 and K10 with Pentax lenses look very interesting in the respect, but one would like an indication that Hoya plan to continue the camera segment of Pentax. I think we are a lot of users out there that would like to hear from Hoya; if the merger goes through, whether or not they plan to respect the Imaging Division of Pentax. Pentax should be outselling Sony in the DSLR segment in Sweden here in Scandinavia, and this is almost without any advertisement going on. And I’m now seeing Pentax in many stores that never before sold the brand.
I know that probably Hoya doesn’t care too much about private customers, since most of your products are for companys. But of cause actions of Hoya would influence, whether or not we would feel that it is a company that one would like to support in buying filters, etc.
I have heard very positive things about the quality of the products of the Hoya Corporation, and their dedications of coming out with good products for their consumers. I hope that this trend will continue.
If current company and private users of Pentax equipment hear that it is Hoya’s plan to scrap the Imaging Division, it could quickly lead to a tendency to go with product lines from competing companys instead. So the many people in private and commercial sectors would like to hear a statement from Hoya that they intend to support the upgoing spiral of the current Pentax success in the Imaging and Optical business. Otherwise the Pentax market shares could see a quick drop and the value of the entity decline.

Warm regards
Sune M.


<<<<<<<<

Others should probably so far contact the US office, until we have the Japanese PR or consumers department mail of Hoya.

I'll start a similiar thread on DPr later.

[Jonson PL]

Hello and thank you for your inquiry.

It is still too early to talk about what will happen after TOB, but I would like to let you know what we think about Pentax and our merger. Here are some comments that our CEO made in the past few months.

Pentax is one of Japan's best-known camera makers with worldwide brand recognition and a nealy 90-year history, which HOYA respects very much. We appreciate excellent technology and engineers Pentax has. We believe that both companies are the best partners and that's the reason we are offering tender offer.

Hoya is a manufacuturer, not investors. We do M&A in order to strengthen our business, not to chop them up and sell. We've never commented that we are going to sell the camera division. We see profit on investment, not profit vs. sales.

The business strategy for camera division may need some tunings so that they don't have to compete directly with big companies. HOYA believes that we can differenciate the products and make it more profitable.

As you know, HOYA's core business is B to B, but we care very much about our customers, both business and individual. We listen to what our customers say and that's how we have grown. We appreciate your support, and look forward to more opinions and comments.

Akiko Maeyama | Corporate Communications | HOYA Corporation
2-7-5 Naka-Ochiai, SHinjuku-ku, Tokyo 161-8525 JAPAN
TEL 03-3952-1166 $B!J (Jdirect $B!K (J | Fax 03-3952-0726

------

I must say that ’m very impressed. I contact one of the key persons in Corporate Communications, instead of going via PR or customer service, and I get an in-depth answer the next day.
And I must say that they’re spot on, in many of the aspects. Pentax could really benefit from having a good ally. The current success of Pentax is almost more than they can handle. Their factories are running 24 hours a day. They’ve postponed the 645D and the K5, just to put all the juice into getting the sought after lenses out to the consumers. And the homerun with the K100 and K10 was made possible via cooperation with a big player in Samsung.
I like the idea of a smaller more individual company, and think it fun to go treasure hunting; scoping for the right lenses. But many find it a pain that they can’t just get what they want right away. And this is a valid point.
If Pentax can enjoy management integrity, and do what they do best in the camera department, but Hoya can stabilize and give the benefit of a big player, we could have the best of both worlds. If it is the same good quality, but just with the HoyaPentax name written on top, I can live with that.

All in all, good that some of Benjii’s thoughts of not being overly impressed with going high up in the hierarchy, taking chances and being cocky can yield positive results. I really hadn’t expected to hear anything.

(Let's keep the answer here, and not transfer it to DPr. This is the better site after all).

[Richard Day]

Hello and thank you for your inquiry.

It is still too early to talk about what will happen after TOB, but I would like to let you know what we think about Pentax and our merger. Here are some comments that our CEO made in the past few months.

Pentax is one of Japan's best-known camera makers with worldwide brand recognition and a nealy 90-year history, which HOYA respects very much. We appreciate excellent technology and engineers Pentax has. We believe that both companies are the best partners and that's the reason we are offering tender offer.

Hoya is a manufacuturer, not investors. We do M&A in order to strengthen our business, not to chop them up and sell. We've never commented that we are going to sell the camera division. We see profit on investment, not profit vs. sales.

The business strategy for camera division may need some tunings so that they don't have to compete directly with big companies. HOYA believes that we can differenciate the products and make it more profitable.

As you know, HOYA's core business is B to B, but we care very much about our customers, both business and individual. We listen to what our customers say and that's how we have grown. We appreciate your support, and look forward to more opinions and comments.

Akiko Maeyama | Corporate Communications | HOYA Corporation
2-7-5 Naka-Ochiai, SHinjuku-ku, Tokyo 161-8525 JAPAN
TEL 03-3952-1166 $B!J (Jdirect $B!K (J | Fax 03-3952-0726

------

I must say that ’m very impressed. I contact one of the key persons in Corporate Communications, instead of going via PR or customer service, and I get an in-depth answer the next day.
And I must say that they’re spot on, in many of the aspects. Pentax could really benefit from having a good ally. The current success of Pentax is almost more than they can handle. Their factories are running 24 hours a day. They’ve postponed the 645D and the K5, just to put all the juice into getting the sought after lenses out to the consumers. And the homerun with the K100 and K10 was made possible via cooperation with a big player in Samsung.
I like the idea of a smaller more individual company, and think it fun to go treasure hunting; scoping for the right lenses. But many find it a pain that they can’t just get what they want right away. And this is a valid point.
If Pentax can enjoy management integrity, and do what they do best in the camera department, but Hoya can stabilize and give the benefit of a big player, we could have the best of both worlds. If it is the same good quality, but just with the HoyaPentax name written on top, I can live with that.

All in all, good that some of Benjii’s thoughts of not being overly impressed with going high up in the hierarchy, taking chances and being cocky can yield positive results. I really hadn’t expected to hear anything.

(Let's keep the answer here, and not transfer it to DPr. This is the better site after all).

It all sounds quite logical, at least it's from one of the main horses mouths and not a speculating commentator!

However, nothing is signed as yet and therefore isn't a done deal, but hopefully this will stem some of the more idiotic ramblings that have been proliferating.

I firmly believe that whatever happens, Pentax will be around for a long while yet and with a very familiar and recognisable identity.