Is Pentax to disappear?

Although a Pentax user for some 40+ years - I started with a Pentax S1a -I have yet to purchase a Pentax DSLR - perhaps in the Spring when a new model appears? However, I have been warned off by a salesman at a well known local camera shop.

The shop doesn't stock Pentax DSLR's because they can't obtain stock; kits, bodies or lenses, and as Pentax have apparenty withdrawn from servicing and repairs the shop doesn't accept Pentax units for repair!

They also think Pentax will go the way of Minolta!

Can anyone through any light on the matter? I have so much Pentax kit I can't bear the thought of changing brands.
Andrew

Sorry, I should have said - it's NOT Jessops

Jessops by any chance?

If so I'd put a year's wages on Pentax outliving them by a long margin.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Was it Jessops per chance?

It was Jessops that decided not to stock Pentax - not the other way round.

The salesman was talking total bllx and was trying to scare you into a panic purchase of a CaNikOny !

Try asking Chris @ SRS the same question.

Funny how I bought a brand new Pentax from another well known national camera store ( not jessops funnily enough ) only the other week. They certainly don't seem to have stocking issues.. well apart from the cash back deal making Pentax's sell better than hot cakes.

As long as photographers want, a fine camera, at a realistic price, there will always be Pentax to fulfill a need!

Peter.

The sooner Jessops, disappear the better.
Once upon a time Jessops were good, you could buy anything and from knowledgeable people, now it gets up my nose, they tell customers “This is the best one for you” without any idea of what the person wants, and this is the way many high street stores are going and it B***Y annoys me.
The bosses make a quick profit, customers are ripped off, but more wiser and then wont use Jessops.
Hence the huge losses they have made for the last 2 years.
I say just use good shops like SRS and Pentax will be around for a very long time.

Well said, could'nt agree more, can't see Jessops being around for much longer, as they are staffed with un helpful,could not care less staff!

Peter

In this economy, I wish I could guess whether Pentax will survive. I think they'll have to become much more mass-market with their compacts and dSLR to make it through. Love Canon or loathe them, they have every possible end of the market covered which ultimately will get them through. Unfortunately it's not particularly about quality, it's just about getting every market sector talking about your products. Pentax have tended to be high quality and long-term, but these days it's not about that. Sad, but that's life.

Maybe they need to start badge-engineering for the mass market stuff and so increase their appeal at minimum cost? Dunno, just hope they make it, that's all

Jessops are the biggest bunch of lying ba...

The article in this weeks AP seems to blame Pentax for not having 'attractive' cameras!!!!

Compared to big c's they're streets ahead.

I'd ignore the salesman, who probably is only spouting his managements propaganda, and go to a real shop for proper advice.

Rant over, sorry.

You have nothing to be sorry about, Adams, the CEO Jessops say's all his staff are trained, I wonder what for, telling lies could it be?
It's definitely not selling quality.

I've no idea what the global market is like for Pentax, but here in the UK you've got to dig a bit and research before you buy to really appreciate what is available. The K20D has picked up lots of favourable reviews lately and the forum here seems to have new people all the time at the moment. So it might not be so bad for Pentax, but in the current climate lots of surprising things have happened.

Does anyone know how Pentax are faring on the global side of things, as we must be quite a small market here in the UK.

As people have said above to me it's Jessops who look a bit more shaky. It can only truly work as a shop with an emphasis on the quality of service and advice, but my impression is they've tried to save costs on the staffing side, and they will pay for that. It makes them no different to buying a camera from Dixons or Comet.

Pentax don't just make cameras they make all types of optical stuff glasses, binoculars hospital equipment etc. and now that Hoya own Pentax I can see big changes coming I hope for the better, so I don't think they'll be disappearing any time soon. I bought my first digi camera in Jessops in Glasgow wish I hadn't it was an Olympus

In Japan Pentax is now below not only Canon and Nikon, but is in fifth place behind Sony and Olympus. They always used to be third in Japan. This is not good news.

Unless Pentax improve their marketing considerably, world wide, they are doomed I fear. It doesn't matter how good the product is if no one knows about it. The reason Sony for instance is higher in the lists is through pure marketing skills. Olympus seems to come out with a new model every three months or so, and lots of people will always want the newest toy in the shop. Pentax neither invest in marketing nor in new products to generate sales. They rely pretty heavily on the dedication of those of us with Pentax cameras. I cannot imagine other brand followers putting up with the dearth of models, and maybe more importantly new lenses that we Pentax folk put up with.

The fact that the likes of Jessops no longer stock Pentax, no matter how awful Jessops is, is a worry. Without high street shops stocking them Pentax market share will dwindle even further, and from niche market vanish into no market.

To be honest, if my husband hadn't bought me the K20D I was considering moving to Nikon,