So, with the smoke clearing after the Nikon launch of their initial Full Frame Mirrorless Interchangeable Lens Cameras (FFMILC) and the Canon launch of their own FFMILC, we now know how the two big players in the camera industry play their hands. Yes, it’s like card players and it’s a leadership choice to take a risk here and there, to draw back at other times. You can do surveys on purchase statistics but at the end of the day, to design a new camera in a new category (as opposed to making a Mark 2, 3, 4), you do have to make a decision and often a crucial decision.
So how should the competitors react? Or more specifically how should Olympus react?
There is the linear reaction – manage advertising and sales campaigns, sales channels, plod along on the current product design policies and path.
Or
There is the proactive non linear initiative – possibly to break current approaches and modes of thinking and outflank the FFMILC.
Here’s an idea. And it’s not altogether unique or new. Because Canon and Nikon have already figured out a bit of the idea.
Differentiate a product not by tiering the product line and truncating features off the lower end models
- Entry Level, Lowest Price
- Enthusiast Level
- Premium
- Professional
But by producing DIFFERENT products with DIFFERENT features.
The fundamental questions are:
- How Different
- What Different
Olympus once had the mojo on how to do this around the 2010. They’ve lost it in the recent E-M10 Mark III and the PEN E-PL8 design policies. They’ve dropped into a Nikonist culture of tiering the D-3x00, D-5x00, D-7x00. That’s a bad approach for the company and for the buyers. Olympus needs to get their mojo back. Especially when products for that market segment is has been abysmal for Canon and Nikon.
No comments:
Post a Comment