At 04:26 PM 4/8/98 -0400, Tomoko Yamamoto <tomokoy@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>I called my local
>camera store which is an Olympus dealer to find out that they, too, had
>received a fax from Oly America. I was told that they did not, and they
>(the buyer-owner of the store) just talked with an Oly Rep on the phone
>yesterday. The price increase by Olympus has been by a small amount, and
>if they were making any increases, they would notify dealers normally one
>month in advance, according to the salesman I talked on the phone.
Tomoko-san:
I will repeat a post I made earlier. This was after a rather lengthy phone
call (from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to New York State, during the day and on
my dime) to determine the facts as best I could, at which point some nice Oly
types gave me the 1-800 number and some names to talk to. Note that the
following re-post contains names and phone numbers, so anyone who wishes may
confirm (or not) the price increases.
*** Re-post commences ***
Never wanting to simply spread rumours, I decided to do the logical thing and
actually phone Olympus America to get the info "straight from the horse's
mouth."
I talked to Jim de Carlo, Sales Manager for OLY America at 1-800-622-6372, ext.
5157 (this number is toll-free anywhere in Continental North America). Mr. de
Carlo was *very* forthcoming, and said that yes, indeed, prices on certain of
the Olympus imaging line were going to rise by 20% April 1, 1998, and that
larger dealers were already buying up quantities of stock in anticipation of
this.
Mr. de Carlo indicated specifically that the OM-4Ti and the OM lens group would
rise in wholesale price by 20%, but the wholesale price of the OM-3Ti and the
OM Accessories line will remain essentially unchanged ("no scheduled price
increases" was the word).
Mr. de Carlo indicated that extremely low demand was causing this price
re-vamping. As one example, he noted that the cost to manufacture the
Telescopic Auto Tube was fairly close to $400.00 U.S., because only a small
handful were made each year, while the wholesale price on the same item was
closer to the $200.00 U.S. mark. The entire OM line has been causing Olympus
to bleed for many years, but they stay in it primarily for the professional
photographer and imaging specialist (mostly medical) market to keep the line
alive. Their other lines, such as their digital imaging line, are actually
scheduled for (or have already seen) price *decreases* at the wholesale end.
Sorry to give everyone bad news, but it appears that yes, OLY equipment's gonna
get even rarer and more expensive. Get 'em while they're (relatively) cheap.
*** Re-post ends ***
So there you have it. Unless Mr. de Carlo has changed his tune in the last few
weeks, I imagine that PvT is essentially correct. In any case, I suggest
anyone who's interested phone the above number and have a chat with Mr. de
Carlo himself. Perhaps that will clear things up.
Garth Wood
Oly fan (but *not* crazed)
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