I'm sure Olympus is not selling enough 4Tis on a steady basis to justify
keeping an assembly line going for them. Imho
John
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----- Original Message -----
From: Phillip Franklin <pfranklin@xxxxxxxx>
To: olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, February 01, 2000 10:50 PM
Subject: [OM] OM - RIP
> Joseph is right about production runs. They will usually make up a batch
of what they think
> they will be able to sell in a given period of time. They start filling
orders from that
> inventory. I'm sure a lions share of their inventory is destined for Oly
America. If Oly
> America decides it can't sell out their inventory in a reasonable period
of time than they
> quit placing orders to Japan. After awhile Oly Japan decides not to make
another production
> run of a given item. I'm sure this is on an item by item basis. If there
is not a screaming
> demand for 8mm fisheyes than I'm sure they are happy to see the last of
their inventory go
> on that item. There's probably a fixed cost and thus fixed return on
investment which any
> large modern manufacturing company must follow. Oly is not like Contax or
even Hassy. Oly
> operates in relatively large production runs. Basically when a long term
demand for a given
> item in their product line falls to such a low level that is no longer
economical to produce
> and market, then that item gets cut.
>
> So if a bunch of you guys & girls (with some extra pocket money) start
purchasing all of the
> new stuff and forget about the used (which is traditionally left for us
poor guys), Oly will
> keep on mak'n 'em. I'm sure there is no god atop of Mt. Olympus who wakes
up one day and
> decides to drop a largely successful line of 35 mm photo gear that has
been selling for over
> 25 years. My guess is that eventually the demand will just fade away when
we realize that
> there are better alternatives out there for the same or less money. I
don't like plastic
> cameras any better than the next guy, but I'm not some die hard who will
over pay to be
> unique. That's for the true collector, a breed who seems to have more
money to admire
> manufactured goods as a form of art.
>
> A new Nikon N90s sells for $675.00 and the Nikon F100 is around $1200. If
one breaks Nikon
> will have it repaired and back in your hands inside a few days. They have
absolutely
> wonderful support and customer service. They make a modern functional
product at a
> reasonable price. Oly has just not gone after this market. Certainly the
days are numbered
> for the OM series. However it may take 10 or more years for us few die
hards to run dry of
> our supply. In the meantime 35 mm film photography will improve with more
modern and usable
> equipment. And digital will advance to where we have more choices of the
tools we need for
> our work. If Oly decides not to participate in the future of this medium
than it's their
> loss, not ours.
>
> Phillip Franklin
>
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