"Nunnya Bizniss" wrote in message
.131...
"Courtesy Assured" wrote in news:38pehiF5pvqk4U1
@individual.net:


"Brian C. Baird" wrote in message
.. .
...according to dPreview:

http://www.dpreview.com/news/0503/05030301kyocera.asp
--
http://www.pbase.com/bcbaird/


Any bets on Olympus folding within the next 12 months?




Olympus will never fold. They are a highly diversified company with some
of
the most amazing medical imaging systems on the market for example. They
may have shot themselves in the foot with their high end digital cameras,
but thats hardly enough reason to think even their digicam division will
be
"next".



Well, it would be pointless to re-hash the well documented deficiencies of
the 4/3 system - just about everyone is already aware that it produces noisy
and relatively poor quality images(or, if they don't know, they've only to
read some reviews)

What has become noticeable is the collapse in prices for Olympus DSLR's -
the 300, for instance, is now selling in the UK for less than £540 - and I
fully expect it to fall below the £500 barrier in a couple of weeks.

The E1 is also poised for massive reductions as an increasingly desperate
Olympus try to shift stock of its aged overpriced flagship camera.

So, why are prices dropping? - yep, because no-one wants them.

There is talk of Olympus releasing a low priced kit version of the 300 with
the 24-45 & 50-140 lenses AND offering a rebate. This might temporarily
help sales - but, as usual, Olympus offer too little, too late.

Already approaching a financial crisis, Olympus look set to pull out of the
DSLR market fairly soon - their losses are simply unsustainable.

They might well soldier on for a bit longer with their point & shoot
models - but even those are being seriously undercut by their rivals.

Face it - Olympus have screwed their customers for years - their lenses are
way overpriced, their DSLR cameras are noisy and/or plagued with JPEG
compression problems, and their ridiculous insistence of sticking to the
discredited 4/3 system ensures that no 'professional' users will be buying
the E-1 replacement, even if Olympus can afford to develop it - which is
increasingly doubtful.

So, all in all, I don't think that 2005 is going to be a very good year for
Oly.