Pentax futures -- Ned Bunnel leaving

[Kym]

http://www.pentaximaging.com/about/press/289

Ned Bunnell to Retire as President of PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION; James Malcolm Assumes Responsibilities as Executive Vice President
Noboru Akahane to Become New President of "Americas"
Denver, CO (September 12, 2012) – Noboru Akahane, President of PENTAX RICOH IMAGING, Tokyo, Japan today announced several management changes at its U.S. subsidiary, PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION, based in Denver, Colorado.

Current president, Ned Bunnell, will retire effective September 30th. “We appreciate Ned’s considerable contributions and leadership of the PENTAX operations in the U.S. over the past 7 years. He has helped revitalize the PENTAX brand and re-establish our relationship with key retailers both in the photo specialty channel and larger national chain stores and we wish him well,” said Mr. Akahane.

Effective October 1st, Mr. Akahane will be appointed President of PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS CORPORATION in addition to his current role as president of PENTAX RICOH IMAGING, Tokyo, Japan.

Also effective October 1st, Mr. Akahane announced the appointment of James Malcolm as Executive Vice President of PENTAX RICOH IMAGING AMERICAS. Mr. Malcolm will report directly to Mr. Akahane and he will be responsible for the leadership and operations of the U.S. subsidiary.

Most recently Mr. Malcolm has been working with Ricoh Company, Ltd. in Japan on the post-acquisition integration of PENTAX on a global basis. His insight and experience have set the direction and provided the vision needed to initiate management changes, including compliance with merger strategies.

“We are very pleased that Jim has joined the PENTAX RICOH team. He brings a wealth of knowledge to our camera business, accumulated from years in the photo industry,” said Mr. Akahane, “His knowledge of photographers’ needs, his proven business acumen, understanding of technology and insight into consumer trends are invaluable to our future.

“Given the market opportunity, North America is very important to our business,” explains Mr. Akahane. “There are a core group of PENTAX and RICOH fans here and we are confident to deliver high-quality products that will not only satisfy our current customers but also attract new customers through innovation and support of Ricoh’s global brand.”

So the feeling on the Pentax forums plus some other leaked information is the recent 9 products were the end of the
Hoya development line and the K-5II/s is a stop gap until new Ricoh based models are released.

The rumour has been for a while that Ricoh were drive some big changes and it would take time.
The recent announcement cannot be considered big changes.

We can but hope!

[Film Street]

Ricoh were drive some big changes

We can but hope!

M mount rangefinder I hope.

[JM Tran]

Have been following Ned Bunnell since end of 2005 when I bought my first ever DSLR, a Pentax DL. He has been a loyal servant to the brand for many years, and I wish him all the best in his future endeavours.

[Kym]

M mount rangefinder I hope.

Probability ... 0.00000 !

FF K-1 and and 24Mpx APS-C K-3 ??

[Rattus79]

What happened to the k3 announcement? nothing yet? or is it just the k5?