June 24th, 2012, 01:45 PM
|
|
|
Quote:
Originally Posted by Liamness
Given that they produce the sensors themselves, it is not like they have outstanding orders which they then have to include in their own products. It it not like they have a load of sensors that they have already produced lying around either, that is not how consumer electronics works. They make the stuff and they ship it. Anything that stays in a warehouse for any length of time is losing them money.
More likely they don't want to pay the expense of upgrading current production lines, while sales are still good. I am as surprised as anyone that the GF5 seems to have the old sensor, as I though the 16mp one was the new 'volume' sensor. Clearly Panasonic believe it will sell anyway. I think they might regret that, because the budget competition from Sony and Samsung have much better image quality. They run the risk of consumers beginning to associate sensor size with image quality, when the OM-D has shown that does not need to be the case.
They'll stop selling them when they stop selling, if that doesn't seem too circular. It's for the same reason Nintendo still produced the DS Lite until recently, despite the fact that there were several new iterations. It may be obsolete in some respects, but they have a production line to make these cameras that cost millions to set up, and would cost millions again to transition to a new product. It is better that they keep their production output as high as possible using their current lines, rather than spend loads converting them to a newer model, and potentially have lower output.
|
In some respects, maintaining production of a "last generation" product can be a value leader proposition. As development costs & such have been amortized, pricing can be based on actual cost of goods sold. The lower price point can attract new customers to the product lineup who might not otherwise have selected your product line. Apple, for example, have been doing this with the iPhone line. A last generation iPhone is offered at a substantially lower price than the current generation one by a number of cell service providers. It gets the customer into the cycle.
That said, some of these image sensors are several generations old and it is time for there to be newer ones across the product lineup. The mu4/3 cameras are competing not just with each other, but with other formats such as the Nikon 1 series and the expected Canon mirrorless system. Add to that the fact that Canon and Nikon are providing some very attractive options of small bodied DSLRs at price points which are competitive with many of the mu4/3 offerings. The target is moving, both in what size camera the market desires and the price/performance calculus.
|
20Thanks
