When Hoya stated recently that they were unhappy with Pentax pricing and profit levels, they were not talking about the prices they charge retailors in the UK or the rest of Europe.
It does not cost Pentax or any other manufacturer any more to ship a crate of DSLR's to Europe than it does to the US, they simply charge more, because they know they can. On that basis higher profit levels in Europe support lower margins in the US.
In other words if Pentax had no European market, the US would have to pay more.
Of course you can argue that the volumes in the US ultimately translate to more on the bottom line. I just wonder if Pentax are making anything on some of the heavily discounted items.

As I stated in an earlier post I am a frequent visitor to the US and I am well aware of the deals at the Outlet Malls. The US model is a slave to volume, the Detroit auto manufacturers being the perfect example of it, personally I have never been a fan of the busy fool approach.

The US is a great place to visit, but it is not the thought of extended UK warranties that makes me smile when I touchdown at Heathrow

I think we are all in agreement, George was just pointing out my typo.

I travel to the US several times a year on business, so I am well aware of the rebate system and the 'shopping frenzy'.

While there are undoubted bargains to be had, they are not what they used to be and often quantity buying is a factor, 'buy 2 get one free'

On a recent trip to Florida I checked out prices for several items of photographic gear and found them no cheaper than in the UK, however you cannot argue that companies such as B&H, Adorama offer prices very significantly below UK prices, especially if you have an American friend who can claim back any rebates.

As an example a FA 35mm sells at B&H for $299 approx £150 (no rebate involved). In the UK if you can find someone with stock the price is around £280.

If I imported a lens even with postage and duty/VAT there is still a saving of £70-80. If a UK dealer could buy a lens at $299 (£150), then even with markups and taxes that lens should be available at around £200-210.

If you equate this to air travel, in the UK we pay business class prices for a coach service, which in effect subsidises the US market, who in turn pay coach fares and receive business class service (from Pentax).

I would like to see Pentax adopt a more global approach to pricing rather than regional.
Pentax are not alone in this and almost certainly only feel that they need to match the prices of their competitors.
We could debate marketing strategies at length, but my personal opinion is that Pentax should be as innovative in their business model as they are with their products.

George I just realised the typo, I of course mean't to say that rebates are a common feature in the US.

I agree entirely with the points you make, rebates are not a regular feature of the US market and not that common in the UK.

I did wonder if we might see a price drop for the K10D body similar to that which saw the price drop to £399 for a week or two in the summer.

Yesterday Pentax announced $100 rebates on the K10 and K100 Super as well as rebates on some lenses and flash units.
This was predicted on other forums as way of sustaining sales through the holiday season prior to an announcement of a new model in Jaunuary.

Part one has proved to be true, so depending upon your view of things this may give more credence to a possible January announcement.

The K10 with rebate can now be purchased for under $600 or £300, can we hope for a drop in the UK price?

I see the digiatal camera exchange website also sports the Pentax Pro Centre Logo

I assumed he was talking about the PENTAX-A 1:4 200mm, not the * Macro

If anyone has one of these that they are prepared to sell or know where I might get a hold of one please send me a pm. I have had no luck with Pentax UK or their distributer 2020

The lens was made for Pentax by Tamron hence the unusual for Pentax ring size.

Thanks - Steve

Af200T and AF200SA are very common on Ebay and usually sell for around £10, I sold my spare only a month ago.
AF280T is a much better gun but are less common.

Take care with second hand motordrive A, most that come up seem to have faults, the ME Winder2 on the other hand is very sturdy and reliable, I have had mine over 25 years and it has never given any problems, that said I an a pretty old fashioned kind of guy and wind on manually most of the time.

Check out http://www.bdimitrov.de/kmp/bodies/A/super.html for more Super A info

Would have loved to have got an LX when I was upgrading from the MES but it was just too expensive for me at the time, so I went with the Super A.

If the K10D was the size of a Super A, then maybe I would stop procrastinating and go digital