One of the problems Pentax has with high-end digital cameras is being dependent upon outside supplier's quotas for critical parts. That can kind of limit their production. That probably was why the istD was in such short supply, I know for a fact they sold them faster than they could produce them. I understand the istDS is selling as fast as they come off the line also, despite the fact the production is many times what it was for the istD.
I reported a rumor about a year ago that Pentax was looking to aquire their own FAB capability. This is probably for the reasons mentioned above. First they showed the MZ-D prototype, Pentax has seldom publicly shown a prototype before that they did not produce. Second, production of the istD was far more limited than they wanted it to be. Those two things in themselves are enough of a reason to want their own production capability. Medical imaging has gone digital too. Limitations in that area will hurt them financially more than it would in camera production. I now think the rumor was more solid than it seemed when I first reported it.
Film P&S cameras are dead. Digital P&S has low profit margins, and have competition everywhere from cellular telephones to toy manufactures. If Pentax is going to remain viable in the consumer camera business they have to move solidly into the DSLR business. That means they have to have a high-end camera as well as several low-end cameras. The days when they could get by with one mid-range camera and a stripped down lost leader based upon it (1960's) are long gone. However, cameras, are not and never have been their bread and butter (look around your doctors office sometime), so we can expect them to be around for awhile even if the make some mistakes. Although even I admit they are not the same company the were in the 60's, 70's, and early 80's. Too many management types instead of engineering types running it now.
BTW, Leica, Hasselblad, Linhof, & Rollei cameras are no longer made by the original manufactures. Leica, Hasselblad, and Linhof are made by companies set up by enthusiasts to continue production, and Rollei is made by Samsung a Korean Government owned industry. So in the real world they are already dead. In the current manufactures go under they will finally be buried as well.
graywolf http://www.graywolfphoto.com "Idiot Proof" <==> "Expert Proof" -----------------------------------
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