Looks that there is no bright future for the A-mount/Minolta mount. I think they are more or less skipping this platform.
On the other hand, the future of the E-mount sounds very promising!
It does make sense to focus on one mount, being that E and FE.
I just hope that Sony pull a rabbit out of the hat and make a DSLR like body with support for both Alpha and E-mount without the need of an adapter.
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I have noticed that A or E mount was not mentioned. What was mentioned is
α mount???
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Alpha mount (includes A-mount and E/FE-mount). The photograph CLEARLY shows "E-mount," so when they are talking about alpha mount, they are mainly talking about E-mount. They said nothing about A-mount and nothing about APS-C E-mount so clearly they are banking on FE to drive sales and profit. That doesn't mean they will discontinue support for APS-C E-mount or A-mount, but those are not their top priorities. This becomes especially clear when you see how they focus on FE for upcoming (2016) lenses.
Most interesting factoid: Sony claims 60% of MILC lens+body market share now, up from "over 40%" just six months ago. Yet Sony only has 11% of the overall lens+body ILC market. Most people don't buy cameras that often, but they do occasionally buy lenses. So CaNikon's dominance is understated when you look at annual body sales figures. Lens+body revenue seems like a better metric to me, so thanks to Sony for sharing that stat.
Lastly: If you have an APS-C Sony, don't panic. I think we all knew that Sony was focused on FE and would not issue more E-mount lenses for at least the next 12 months. So what? You can a) adapt lenses from other mounts (including A-mount though this is not ideal due to lack of Sony APS-C E IBIS), b) get FE lenses to mount on E-mount, and c) get third party lenses that are often better value anyway.
The really popular focal lengths are already covered in Sony E APS-C:
Third party: 12/2, 19, 30, 60
Sony 10-18, 16-50, 16-70, 18-105, 18-200, 55-210, and more if you include made-for-video lenses (due to size, I don't)
Sony 16 + adapters, 20, 24, 28 (FE, also has adapters), 35, 50, 55 (FE), 90 (FE) macro
The main gaps left are a good cheap pancake (20/2.8 and 16/2.8 are mediocre and overpriced), and a longer native telephoto that enables users to utilize all AF points and OSS.
Canon's 22/2 pancake should be copied. The 20/2.8 is an embarrassment as it costs more than an entire EOS-M + 22/2 setup and is both slower and softer. Unfortunately Sony's 20/2.8 and Zeiss 24/1.8 mean that Sony won't make such a lens. We'd have to get one from Sigma/Tamron/etc. instead.
I would like a good 70-300/4-5.6 OSS for my a6000, but I'm waiting on Sigma/Tamron for that, given that Sony won't be making new APS-C lenses for a while.
APS-C IBIS, a solid metal lens mount (a la A7 II), and a good touchscreen interface on higher-end Sony cameras round out the remainder of what I personally would like to see on APS-C. If they would make such a camera and a good 70-300/4-5.6 and a good pancake clone of the Canon 22/2, I wouldn't really need anything else in terms of body and lenses.
