On Mon, 21 May 2007 18:29:11 +0100, Tom C <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> On 21/05/07, Paul Stenquist <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> > I'm just tired of all those who spend so much time watching the sky >> > to see if it's falling. If I were inclined to dump my Pentax gear, I >> > would do it now. But I'm not going to. It works quite well, thank >> > you. A yawn is appropriate. >> >> Rob Studdert wrote: >> >> It's not really, this is a conversation about Pentax on a Pentax >> discussion list. Try to exercise just a little empathy, granted >> Pentax's future is not entirely clear at the moment. However consider >> for just a moment that some others here may not be made of money and >> may have had to save and sacrifice to buy into the Pentax system and >> as such are simply concerned that it may not have a future. Surely >> scenarios are worth discussion. > > Remember Rob. This is America, where one has the freedom to suppress > other's freedom of speech if they don't like it. And the one who shouts > longest and hardest wins. > > It is a Pentax list and Pentax is being discussed. Nobody has ever > suggested dumping Pentax gear except the guys that are also saying > they're > not going to dump it. > > I wasn't ever going to say this, but I guess I will now. For all those > that > have been ridiculing the so-called Chicken Littles on the list who are > supposedly claiming the sky is falling by discussing Pentax's financial > condition in comparison with the industry... > > Well, guess what? The sky IS falling. Two or more years ago those taunts > were voiced when Herb (who has in depth knowledge of the camera industry > financials), Rob Studdert, and myself were discussing Pentax's future.
Tom, Neither you nor Herb had or have the slightest idea what you are talking about. Pentax is in better shape now than it was two years ago. What has changed is that it has a major shareholder that owns enough shares to call the shots. And that major shareholder has no interest in cameras, it just wants to make money. It believes that it is in its best interests to sell its shares to Hoya now for 770 yen than to hang on to them and see whether the Pentax board can do better. What will happen when Hoya buys the business is anybody's guess, but you can bet that it's not telling until after the deal is done. My guess is that it has already sold the imaging division to Samsung (subject to the deal going through, of course), but that's just a guess, like everything else that has been said on this subject. John > At > that time we suggested the outlook wasn't good and if things didn't > change, > Pentax was possibly headed the same way as companies like Contax, Ricoh, > or > Minolta. We suggested that they good possibly either cease to exist or > that > they may be acquired or taken over. None of us knew what was going to > happen and none of us outright predicted what would happen. There was no > prescience. > > So a scenario quite similar to what we were talking about two years ago > is > now taking place, has been in progress for the last 6 months or so, and > is > in the front page Japanese financial news. And what's happening? There's > still folks on this list that are spouting the same "Chicken Little", > "Sky > is falling" rhetoric as they were two years ago (hoping to sqaush > discussion) before Pentax penned a deal with Samsung, and before rumors > and > news of a Hoya/Pentax merger. > > I rest my case. > > Tom C. > > > -- Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/ -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
