Interview with Sony rep Part II

I didn't log on for a day or two and was surprised to see 5 pages of replies to my first excerpt from the article. Since you all enjoyed it so much I guess another excerpt is in order.

I could translate the rep's replies to questions about why Sony likes SLT technology so much and why Sony's mirrorless cameras are better than the competition but that is basically just sales talk, and would probably incite more arguments.　So here is the final question of the interview.

Q: Sales figures from 2011 indicate that mirrorless cameras account for 40% of all exchangeable lens camera sales. Does Sony intend to put their main focus on NEX in the future?

A: There is no question that mirrorless camera sales are increasing. But we do not intend to focus on only one system. We want to maintain a balanced position. But there are a lot of manufacturers entering this new market so we definitely want to offer solid options to our customers.

Tony Beach wrote: My guess is that in a few years from now Sony will primarily concentrate their camera business around NEX with the Alpha mount probably languishing or even being discontinued.

That's what you got from this statement ... amazing insight

Sony says:

"But we do not intend to focus on only one system. We want to maintain a balanced position."

That would be almost suicide. Sony have millions invested in the Alpha line (not to mention they bought the KM camera division), and have that amazing deal with Carl Zeiss, which alone is enough of an advantage over Canikon to keep a fair market share. People actually buy A-mount bodies to be able to use the ZA lenses. Writing all that off would be an extremely unwise thing to do, and would also diminish the know-how that goes into the E-mount. A-mount is a fair chunk of camera sales for Sony.

Tony Beach wrote: Seems to me that the E mount will dilute offerings for the Alpha mount. My guess is that in a few years from now Sony will primarily concentrate their camera business around NEX with the Alpha mount probably languishing or even being discontinued.

I do not read that in the quotes and personally see too many actions from Sony being committed to both mounts (including FF lenses, which make no sense for a Nex) that make this unlikely.

Time will tell I guess.

Btw, thanks to revdocjim for the translations


Edited by pegelli - 01 January 2012 at 20:50

pegelli wrote: Tony Beach wrote: Seems to me that the E mount will dilute offerings for the Alpha mount. My guess is that in a few years from now Sony will primarily concentrate their camera business around NEX with the Alpha mount probably languishing or even being discontinued. I do not read that in the quotes

No, I don't see it in the quotes either, it is merely my own speculation (which I personally do not consider baseless).

and personally see too many actions from Sony being committed to both mounts (including FF lenses, which make no sense for a Nex) that make this unlikely. Time will tell I guess.

Yes, time will tell, but lets review the last four years:

2011
1 APS-C lens, and 4 NEX lenses announced.

2010
2 "FF", 1 APS-C, and 3 NEX lenses announced.

2009
4 APS-C lenses announced.

2008
4 "FF" lenses announced.

Up to 2009 Sony's efforts were about equally divided between APS-C and "FF" lenses; since then over 60% of Sony's lenses have been NEX. I would suggest that this coming year will say a lot, and I will bet that Sony announces 3 more NEX lenses and perhaps the long overdue 500/4.

eccles wrote: I think a common assumption seems to be that Sony has finite resources in which to invest in a particular product line. Admittedly lens expertise doesn't arise out of thin air, but Sony has readily outsourced lens design in the past, hence the Zeiss and Tamron connections. That leaves electronics, for which Sony has huge resources and there is no reason why they cannot devote sufficient energy supporting both mounts. After all, they've been churning out compact cameras for years and the rise of SLT and NEX doesn't seem to have impacted those yet. If it sells, and they can make a profit then they'll surely make it.

Well, Sony let the A700 go out of production and largely out of stock for a prolonged time before they finally got around to replacing it with the A77. Also, Sony hasn't tried to compete with Canon and Nikon with a large pro body with superior lowlight capabilities. Finally, Sony appears to be abandoning OVF, non-SLT DLSRs. All of that suggests to me that Sony in fact does have a finite amount of resources they are willing or able to throw at their camera business.


Edited by Tony Beach - 03 January 2012 at 16:47

and personally see too many actions from Sony being committed to both mounts (including FF lenses, which make no sense for a Nex) that make this unlikely. Time will tell I guess Yes, time will tell, but lets review the last four years: 2011 1 APS-C lens, and 3 NEX lenses announced. 2010 2 "FF", 1 APS-C, and 3 NEX lenses announced. 2009 4 APS-C lenses announced. 2008 4 "FF" lenses announced.

These statistics are far too small to go by. Do we have a similar comparison with Canikon world ?

Tony Beach wrote: Yes, time will tell, but lets review the last four years:

Looking at lenses is only part of the story, if you're bringing out a new mount you must bring out more lenses then when continueing a mount that has been there for 20+ years.

So let's do a body count

last 2-3 years : 9 A-mount and 5 E-mount
last 6 month : 2 A-mount and 2 E-mount