Pentax has enough history that someone will at least want the name. I don't think Ricoh will give up Pentax just yet. They only paid $125 million for the company. That was pocket change to them really. The theta sells like wildfire currently and they seem intent on investing in that further. There are some massive changes going on and I would imagine that the imaging division will see cuts along the way. Currently they laying off employees en masse and consolidating departments. For instance they let go most of the Pentax United States team and they now share offices with the copier division. Things are looking kind of grim in some ways actually. The professional services program is effectively cancelled now. That includes pro services for the 645Z. All while Fuji is currently rolling out their own pro services along with their own shiny new medium format camera. I think Pentax can hold an edge as a niche player for now, but is that worth investing in for Ricoh? Fuji has stated that they will produce film and camera equipment no matter how small the market gets. Even if it costs them money they will continue because they feel that their legacy is worth preserving. I don't know if Ricoh has that kind of fortitude. Another thing is that Ricoh has a new president as of April 1st and supposedly he is looking to make massive cuts which is likely where this rumor and story started.
The best I can say is buckle up. If you want to read the tea leaves the next six months are going to be a critical time to watch. You aren't going to hear much of anything one way or another, but their actions and further developments will tell the story. Also I really doubt Sigma would buy Pentax. They don't have to really. They are selling more lenses in canon mount than canon themselves. They have gone mirrorless now and I really doubt they are interested in going back to OVF cameras because of the complexities involved. Pentax has the SLR down to an artform so hopefully someone will recognize that. I think there is and always will be a market for SLRs. If they go the way of the TLR and rangefinder I will be sad, but I guess that's just the way things go. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
