simon_baker2 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 <p>Off topic really ( sorry in advance ) but replying to Berg Na,</p> <p>Yes we have a free NHS service ( National Health Service ) here in the UK but unless its a medical emergency you normally have to wait a considerable time to get treatment and I mean "considerable" . Last year I had a skin problem with my hands which required an appointment with a dermatologist, normal waiting time was 14 months ! As I could not wait that long I paid a 100 GBP fee and saw the same consultant in the same hospital the next day ! This is now "par for the course" as the NHS is so stretched, I have since taken out a private medical policy which is costing me 45 GBP a month for myself, my wife and two children .... at least we'll now get treated within 3 days if the NHS can not within 6 weeks. </p> <p>Regards Simon</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simon_baker2 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 <p>Berg Na,</p> <p>Also " consumer products " are generally considerably more expensive here in the UK than the US, that is well known.</p> <p>how about petrol ( gasoline ) to start, unleaded is currently about 93p a litre ( liter ) thats about $5 a US gallon ! 4 months ago when crude was high it cost 1.20 GBP and a pound was worth close to 2 dollars meaning $9 a US gallon !<br> Diesel currently costs us about $9 a US gallon, it was as high as $11 </p> <p>Levi 501 cost around $58 a pair</p> <p>Marshalltown 13" "Durasoft" plastering float ( I own a hardware store ! ) sells for around $70<br> Estwing 20oz leather handle claw hammer $100</p> <p>2 Starbucks Latte and 2 muffins about $14.50</p> <p>A train ticket from my home town to London ( a distance of 180 miles ) depending on time and day of travel as high as $362 second class</p> <p>regards Simon</p> <p>( PS..... Shun ... sorry for more off topic, but I think its relevant for you guys across the pond to get a clearer picture of living costs in UK ..... its no wonder we are in the mire )</p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmulcahy Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 <p>I've got a good look at the price increases on the way. The funny thing the MSRP is at signigicantly lower margin $ for the vendors. <br> I don't think Nikon needs to worry about going out of bussiness it's the retail stores that are going to take the hit. Us consumers are going to be left with a few large internet companies and box stores. Gone will be the service and expertise of the small shops that actually care about their customers. Once there are fewer places to buy, prices will go up and service will go down.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_brown4 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 <p>Hey Chad, approximately what is the percentage change?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey_edelstein1 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 <p>I bet the German currency is doing better, the Germans are good bankers and money managers, they don't like to inflate or borrow excessively, can anyone tell me how the yen compares to the the German Mark during the past 6 months.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShunCheung Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 <p>Harvey, the Germans switched to the Euro a decade ago.<br>The US$ has gained some ground agains the Euro in the last 6 months or so, and on top of that is the yen's gain over the US$.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmulcahy Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 <p>Dan - I didn't figure out a percentage. I just looked at several MSRP's and the margins....there was a lower margin on the few items I looked at w/ the new pricing. I didn't take a really good look at the new pricing list. I'll do that later this week and see if I can't elaborate. I did notice a pretty big difference on a couple higher priced lenses. It was like a $100+ difference in margin. I don't want to guess what the percentage is and totally give you wrong info. </p> <p> </p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berg_na Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p>Simon - I appreciate the information you provided regarding the quality of the health care system in the UK. I must admit I did not realize the long wait that patients must endure. I visit London fairly frequently and notice that the prices there for most items are generally the same (in absolute numbers) as those we pay here in the US, except that you pay in pounds and we pay in dollars...</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob_shooter Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p>Re: Simon and doom and gloom UK.<br> <br />On the plus side - for those lucky enough to keep their jobs and who have a mortgage......due to the recent sharp cuts in interest rates here in the UK my monthly mortgage repayments have reduced by £300 GBP - that easily cover the increases announced by Nikon therefore NAS is alive and kicking ;-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_bernard Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p>A bad and self-defeating decision by Nikon.<br> Japanese exports are way down. Their economy's shrinkage is accelerating. <br> I could see the exchange-rate argument if all components, all raw materials, all assembly was done in Japan. Since it is not, I have to assume that Nikon is in fact benefiting from the exchange rates. Not to mention the global deflation of wages and materials.<br> I am speculating that this is purely a reaction at reduced sales. They feel that they must keep margins up, so will increase prices.<br> For something as discretionary as a consumer electronic toy (which is basically what they sell) when everybody already has one, people will think twice when their own wages and benefits and even jobs are shrinking.<br> Nikon will sell less. What will it do then, raise prices again? Then sales will shrink. Then they will raise prices again...<br> I want Nikon to stick around for a long time. This won't do it. If anything, to the contrary. Nikon has zero pricing power in today's market. This will cause harm to them, but it's not the first of bad decisions in recent years.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey_edelstein1 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p>Shun this is a currency quote for your info</p> <p id="date_section">Tuesday, January 20, 2009<br> 1 German Mark (DEM) = 0.51129 Euro (EUR)<br> They still denominate in their own currency and exchange changes daily and<br> you can get quotes vs. the Japanese Yen. There is still a French Franc and UK pound too.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harvey_edelstein1 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p>Nikon will stay competitive with Canon no matter what and in the end you will get a great product that over the years will give you a very reliable tool to use for photography.<br> For me as a guy who has some expensive medium format cameras and a Leica system I know that the Nikon system is very well priced, beautifully made and of great value for the money.<br> They could for a while charge more because right now they are making the top 3 cameras in the DXOMARK ratings the D3x, D3 and D700 and the D90 is right up there too.<br> If you look at the life of the camera and your satifaction with a superb peice of engineering and ergonomic design Nikon is one of the best values out there.<br> During these wild times of financial flux in exchange rates I find their business reasons for doing this OK for the duration of this crummy financial environment. I trust Nikon will adjust pricing again as we get out of this mess, until then I hope there are enough buyers who realize that a D700 is a bargain when its compared to a D2x just a couple of years ago.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolly1 Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p>Harvey, I am a Brit expat having worked over the past 12 years solely in Holland, Germany, France and Scandinavia and the only time I encounter French Francs, German Deutchmarks and Dutch Guilders is down the back of the sofa. Where on earth are you getting your information from?<br> I think the only 'major' Eurozone country that hasn't adopted the Euro is Denmark ... and of course the UK.</p> <p><a href="http://coinmill.com/DEM_calculator.html">http://coinmill.com/DEM_calculator.html</a><br /><a href="http://coinmill.com/FRF_calculator.html">http://coinmill.com/FRF_calculator.html</a><br /><a href="http://coinmill.com/NLG_calculator.html">http://coinmill.com/NLG_calculator.html</a></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noli_tan Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p><br /> Last week I noticed that the price in Amazon for the D700 was around $2250-$2300 for the D700. Now i checked its $2449.00<br /> Is this something to be expected ?<br /> the lenses are about the same-no change in price.<br /> <br /> Thanks for the inputs.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott_bush Posted January 20, 2009 Share Posted January 20, 2009 <p>It's all about what the market will bear...obviously there are a lot of firms all over the world making less money than they are used to. <br> No one wants to make the first move (game theory). In this case, Nikon showed their hand...now Canon just needs to sit there and watch their market share increase. People aren't going to buy something if they don't have the money for it, just a dumb move IMO.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave_whoami Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 <p>I think they should do what they have to do. My only Nikon film cameras is are old F and an early Nikkor with 4 basic lenses. They are both great film cameras. My only digital is an old Pentax WP 5MP that has lived in my pocket since the days of suddenly being told to go to Katrina. I decided to upgrade a few weeks ago to a Nikon D3X as my first serious crossover camera. It was going to take me at least a year to save up for it anyway. I figure in a year there may be other high megapixel units to compete with it but at the same time, by then, the price will have dropped a little. Circuit City and other similar collapsing vendors have cost Nikon money. Is it wrong for them to try to recover some? No. If you are a landlord and the city raises your costs through taxes and assessments, you raise your rents. Nikon is just doing the corporate equivalent. Quite simply unless the quality of their professional line suddenly drops this won't hurt them.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wayne_crider4 Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 <p>I only read a handful of the above responses so if this sounds redundant please excuse. We all know that the job of a CEO and president is to make money. If they don't they loose their jobs at some point or worse yet have to close their doors. Of course we can point to various American companies that you can question in this respect, but essentially thats the resultant outcome. Now with American companies who use photographic products such as newspapers, wedding photographers etc cutting back in any conceivable way, I think your going to see a shift to less expensive purchases, no purchases and perhaps used purchases. The problem is, there is this viewpoint that if your not making enough money (take banks as an example) just raise your rates on credit cards (Home Depot cards was one) or on products if your a manufacturer. With the current economic situation I think it's going to bite Nikon in the butt somewhat. I'm not sure just how diversified the company is, but if people aren't buying, raising prices is not going to spur them to do anything except look elsewhere. They should have held tight, but then watch out for reseller increases or American companies looking to make money and stay alive. I will say tho that if raw materials are going up it might have forced their hand, especially if digital cameras are a tight profit margin market.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli_fox Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 <p>"I am pretty surprised by Nikon's move. Generally Japanese companies tend to focus on the long-term. Increasing prices due to currency rates seems to be a reactionary move."<br> <br /><br> So does lowering prices due to a weakening economy. Nikon needs to maintain profits in order to continue making competitive products. This <i>is</i> long-term thinking.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul_b.1 Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 <p>Maybe the Nikon prices increase will help us to be more CREATIVE , and make better picture with whatever equipment we allready have !?</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthuryeo Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 <p>Jack up the price all they want ... I am not buying anything in the next 12 months. It will only reduce the number of potential buyers and hurt their market share.<br> I think the Canon 5DMk2 is going to have a serious dent on the D3X sales.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eli_fox Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 <p>"I think the Canon 5DMk2 is going to have a serious dent on the D3X sales."<br /> <br /><br /> I completely disagree, for two reasons:</p> <p>1. The 5D MK2 and a D3X are not beginners' cameras, obviously. Someone considering either one would already have too much Canon/Nikon gear to jump ships.</p> <p>2. The D3X is the best of the best. Anyone who is interested in buying one wouldn't be interested in the D700 (they probably already have one), much less its Canon competition.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 <p>"So does lowering prices due to a weakening economy. Nikon needs to maintain profits in order to continue making competitive products. This <em>is</em> long-term thinking."<br> The relationship between profit and prices is more complex than this. Higher prices lead to lower sales, but more revenue per sale. Whether the high revenue per sale offsets the lower sales volumes is something that varies with every product and every market and you can be sure Nikon is doing its best to figure this out.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbert Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 <p>In additon if you raise your prices you also risk losing market share, which is not necessarily good for business. There are plenty of instances where companies lose money in the short term hoping to maintain market share and return to profitability in the longer term. The trick is to not lose too much money for too long.<br />Business is a complex business.</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
graham_thompson1 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 <p>The gloomy corporate news came a day after China announced its lowest rate of growth in seven years.<br> South Korea said its economy shrank by 3.4% at year's end, <strong>while Japan reported exports plummeted a record 35% last</strong> <strong>month and Japan's central bank predicted at least two years of contraction ahead</strong></p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
liljuddakalilknyttphotogra Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 <p>Which is why I decided to buy a D700 now - before the price goes up....<br> I should probably also order the 70-300VR - - or should I get the Tamron 28-300 with something similar to VR..... I need a better lens for when I go out riding the horses & I don't want to spend a fortune in case of accident....<br> Anyone used that lens?<br> Lil :-)</p> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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