Pentax: sales declines, stagnant growth in Q2

Pentax, and parent company Hoya, are the latest players in the digicam market to report sales declines and stagnant overall growth.

Tech news site TechOn is reporting today that second-quarter sales for Hoya (which acquired Pentax Corp. in March) declined 6.1 percent and operating income fell 8.2 percent, compared to combined numbers for Hoya and Pentax from Q2 last year.

Hoya's optics business has seen a significant sales reduction, prompting Pentax's parent company to fast-track moving into SLR optics. But the outlook for subsidiary Pentax isn't rosy either. "Concerning the digital camera business operated by Pentax, Hoya said it will aim to secure its profit by reducing the business scale from now on," writes TechOn's Mami Akasaka.

According to the report, Pentax has struggled to move inventory at anticipated rates, and will be reducing production to realign inventory with demand going forward. Summarizing information from Hoya, TechOn also notes that Pentax has been "lagging behind its rivals and market demand when releasing products."

Not surprisingly, it seems that tightening consumer spending has been felt harder among less dominant brands like Pentax. The possible silver lining for Pentax? Perhaps weak demand will rush development of the long-speculated full-frame Pentax DSLR.

Complete numbers and more analysis are available via TechOn.