On 3/19/06 8:42 AM, "Thibouille", <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Maybe but I suspect Sony being partucliary stupid these last years > that they really can screw up badly. Really I dunno. Maybe they'll do > well. Maybe very badly. My hunch, not based on any factual observation, is that Sony is in the DSLR biz for a short term like a few years, maybe a bit more, to grab the money currently exist there before the market begin to saturate and the competition becomes real bloody. Unit price of those DSLRs as well as the lenses are still high (compared with say, Walkman :-), and they have a good command of the censor supply too. The new chairman does not seem to have any strong desire to expand much and rather concentrate on their core biz, and the camera (particularly the DSLR biz) is not the one. Besides DSLR, they might come up with a more refined version of DSC-R1 type models with all the bells and whistles including the anti-shake etc, covering from 28mm to 400mm range with a 23.7 x 15.6 mm equivalent sensor, effectively watering down the need for DSLRs particularly for the entry market that is content with only a couple or a few of cheap consumer zoom lenses anyway. The entry level DSLR market is still the bread and butter biz even for C and N. If this particular market is eroded or diluted, players will have to regroup (again). Better versions of these all-in-one models are really good for the casual and the travel use without having to carry around so many different lenses. I for one want one of those models but it's becoming harder to find one closer to DSLR yet small and compact. I believe C and N are deliberately steering away from this type of models (Canon Pro 1 and Nikon Coolpix 8000 series etc which they discontinued) because they will certainly cannibalize their more profitable DSLR market. People like Sony and Panasonic probably have different ideas from traditional camera makers. We'll see. Ken
