Yamyung
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Regular Member
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Posts: 211
NX500 - momentum loss? Or just a clever strategy from Samsung?
Jan 7, 2015
1
CES did not fulfil the expectations around NX500/NX400 announcement. Big disappointment for some looking for an affordable yet outstandingly despirable NX model. There is no miracle, no irresistable budget offer - not yet.
However Nikon 5500 was announced with 24mpix on CES, starting from 900(body) 1000(kit lens). So from Samsung perspective NX1 got a serious (yet non 4k video) competitor.
NX1 has a staggered lanch. Only the key markets sell it today, so it sounds logical not to launch NX400/500 now when NX1 is not yet available in several markets. So Samsung did a great job on dealying the NX400/500 announcement by several months, so that NX1 prices can stay high for a longer period. But they did not calculate with Nikon 5500 24mpix. I fear Nokon can persuade many with the 24mpix sensor, and they also offer much lower prices too (body: 900 vs NX1's 1500). So from Nikon's persepctive Samsung made a bad decision. An EVF NX500 could have competed directly with Nikon 5500, yet now it seems Samsung can solely rely on the performance of the not cheap enough NX1, while Nikon can benefit from the lack of Samsung competiton.
I assume Samsung will reduce NX1 prices only when they will annnounce NX500/400. Up till then we can not expect more than a 10% discount on NX1. Yet when NX500/400 will hit the shelves, then NX1 will get massive discounts.
Every month Samsung delays the NX500/400 launch will probably cost Samsung a lot. Fingers crossed that the video will finally be 4k. However I would not bet on it.
We will see. Some will not wait any longer and buy someting else.
Lost opportunity for Samsung or a clever decision? How do you see it?