Who takes the financial/ PR hit?

[Bill58]

With all the many, expensive warranty claims on the RD-1 all over the world, one has to wonder who (Epson or Cosina) takes the financial hit? Will either be able to eke out a profit from this fiasco? Have their market images irrepairably suffered too?

I wonder if both now wish they never began the endeavor in the first place?

 

[iml]

For a company the size of Epson, making a loss on 10,000 or so R-D1s produced is hardly likely to be a big deal, and given that it is aimed squarely at a small niche market I doubt there will be any serious PR issues either. Besides which, for those who get a camera with no significant issues, there's not a lot to complain about, as long as it keeps on working at least...

Ian

 

[dazedgonebye]

Epson has no name in the digital camera manufacturing market and few people who buy their printers and office supplies even know what an R-D1 is. Canon's camera business is also a much smaller component of their overall company and, even though they have a lot of success with cameras, most of their money comes from selling office products, printers, etc. as well.

The difference being that Canon uses its digital camera business to drive a positive brand perception...something I'm sad to say will likely never happen for Epson.
(I don't mean to imply that the R-D1 is not a good product, only that Epson's camera presence is very small and not going anywhere.)

 

[tmessenger]

I think it's unfortunate Epson did not get into this and keep it going, the RD1 is completely unique. It's the only digital camera that behaves like a film camera, I want mine to keep going for a long time.

Tim

 

[dazedgonebye]

It's a shame really. I think there's room for a sub-Leica digital rangefinder. It would have to sport a pretty nice spec and come in at less than half the price of the Leica product to make it though.

 

[Joe Mondello]

CV should consider making and marketing the R-D1 themselves. Put a 10MP Fuji sensor in it perhaps if Epson wants out totally. An updated R-D2 would be a cool thing. Heck call it the R-D8 ;-)

I don't think I've heard of an s/n above 0046xx yet, so maybe Epson never even made the promised 10K units.

 

[Trius]

Call it R2-D2 and expand the potential market.

 

[Plasmat]

It would be a great idea for mega-company, such as Samsung or Sony, who want to establish credibility in the high-end camera market, to buy the rights to the R-D1 and remarket it as a high end prestige camera.

It would make a lot of sense. With a price of around $1500 and a good service organization, it would be a huge hit, I think. The market is there.

 

[amateriat]

Hold it...is the RD-1/1s officially out of production? People seem to be referring to the camera(s) in the past-tense here.


- Barrett

 

[Trius]

It's a current product as far as Epson's website is concerned, i.e. you can purchase it direct for the full retail price.

That said, I bet you Epson would entertain outsourcing the entire project. Even if going so meant taking a loss, it's an easy write-off for them and it might get them some more positive PR, especially if it's invisible to the customer until end of sale.