I'll admit - I didnt make it through! But I will say that I suspect that many of the cries for more 'serious' pro/am M43 bodies and lenses fall on deaf ears because the market for that segment is smaller than we all think.
At the top end, Canon and Nikon are so firmly entrenched that it will take years to mount a serious challenge. At this level, it's not just a breakthrough body that is required, but a full lineup of glass and maybe most importantly a pro support network.
Just below that, is the serious amateur. We think that it is a big market only because this segment is overrepresented in forums and photo sharing sites. I suspect that the market isn't big enough to sustain a camera maker and the constant improvement demanded of the space. For evidence I present Olympus and Pentax. Both have struggled to stay afloat serving this market, and have been saved in no small part by successful forays into the entry level - Pentax with the K-x and Olympus with M43.
So that leaves the entry level and the space just below serious amateur. This is where M43 is playing now, and where volume and margin work balance each other.
M43 seems to be on a nice trajectory at the moment, but success of the platform is not yet assured as Sony and others enter. The threat of Canon and Nikon entering the market is ever-present, so I think Olympus and Panasonic will continue to focus on the entry/amateur. Only when they are more secure in this space will the venture more aggressively upmarket.
This is my $.02, nonrefundable
John
Not a market analyst, but he plays one on the Internet.
my iPhone sent this