Q: Moving on to the LX3, have you been surprised by how popular that camera has been?
A: We understand that there are availability problems.
(laughs) Yes, on eBay an LX3 is being sold for $799! We will solve the availability problems.
Q: The problem with cameras like the LX3 is that no matter how hard you try the image quality hits a wall due to the limitations of current technology in such small sensors. Are you actively researching next generation sensor technology that will allow you to break through this wall, or is there any chance of larger sensor compacts appearing.?
A: Yes, we have several ideas, but there's still nothing concrete. We have several choices when it comes to sensors, including CMOS, and we have to study the options carefully, and are going to be proposing some completely new ideas. However this year it's going to be quite tough - especially in the US market - because of the number of megapixels demanded even on entry-level models. We'll maintain our approach of slightly lower pixels counts compared to our competitors, who are pushing 10 and 12 megapixels in their mass market models, where we'll only have 8 megapixels and concentrate on more important things. Unfortunately the consumers' biggest measure of a digital camera's 'image quality' is still megapixels.
