I don't have sales numbers or graphs for the entire world, but at least here in Japan there is quite a bit of attention paid to the "ranking" of products (heck, everything gets ranked here...)
From BCN a little over a month ago:
http://bcnranking.jp/market/03-00008690.html
Note the graph in the middle of the article, on market share (for Japan, caveat) for the major players. Major spikes on the graphs indicate product introductions (with one understandable exception) - an important reminder on why new product introductions are always important. I imagine that if that graph is updated this fall the 2006 - 7,8,9 months will show some wild fluctuations due to the A100, K100D, and D80, and the rest of the year will have the K10D and a new Canon camera thrown in the mix.
Anyway, look at the graph for Olympus - the fall 2005 spike corresponds to the E-500 introduction. Now, the E-330 came on the market around PMA 2006, but notice that Olympus got no spike, rather at best a level month.
When individual models do show up on ranking lists (not often published beyond top 5), on occasion I've seen the E-500 on the top 10, but I've not seen the E-330.
This is not to bash the E-330 .... it is novel in what it does, and what it does appeals to some... if you are one of those then more power to you.
But, as a "sustainable base" I'd agree that it falls short. Now, if it were priced 1/3 less perhaps it would have a much higher volume - price is #1 consideration among these type of camera. However, perhaps Olympus is not able to produce it for that much less, I do not know.
Nevertheless, the Olympus has made a commitment to create said sustainable base in the Imaging Segment with DSLRs as the cornerstone. Thus, regardless of the E-330 success or failure, I expect Olympus to come out with an updated budget camera and a new flagship camera.
-gt
