Samsung hard to find?

[Aleksander Helgaker]

When I was getting the EX1 I discovered how difficult it is to get hold of samsung cameras here in Norway. I went to three stores where I live, none of which had any samsung cameras at all. Also, the biggest camera retailer in Oslo doesn't list Samsung on their website. JapanPhoto, the biggest chain in Norway only offers the EX1 via it's website and no other models.

Are people experiencing the same difficulties in other countries?

 

[tedc333]

Here in California, the lower-end Samsung point and shoots are easy to find in big electronics stores, but the EX1/TL500 I haven't seen anywhere. After I decided to buy it, even the internet retailers were out of stock for a while.

I think Samsung is rolling it out very slowly here.

 

[Cailean Gallimore]

I bought mine at a high street camera store, and the guy who served me said that Samsung had done pretty much a 'silent launch' of the camera, with little or no publicity. He also said that the price was likely to increase within a few weeks, and more publicity will be seen. Maybe the camera will become more available then.

 

[James Cafferty]

Snip...

Also, the biggest camera retailer in Oslo doesn't list Samsung on their website. JapanPhoto, the biggest chain in Norway only offers the EX1 via it's website and no other models.

Are people experiencing the same difficulties in other countries?

Samsung cameras are not easy to find in any store here in New England, USA. And there are numerous stores that could carry them, but don't.

Canon & Nikon Point & Shoot cameras are "name brands" that benefit from extensive advertising. But selling the "old" lower end P&S Samsung cameras is an up hill battle.

Many people seem to like the novelty of the dual LCD screen (front & back), so that separated Samsung from the rest of the pack. And now new management at Samsung has declared that they want to own the mirrorless camera market, too. High quality, reliable Samsung TVs have helped to upgrade their image, and that will help to sell their higher end cameras - including the EX1/TL500.

See this reference posted on dpreview:

Tuesday, 4 May 2010
http://www.dpreview.com/news/1002/10022305samsungmirrorless.asp

Samsung wants to 'own' the mirrorless camera sector, according to Seung Soo Park, Samsung’s Vice President, Strategy Marketing and Digital Media. This will include enhanced communication with customers and firmware updates for its cameras based on their requests, he said, in an exclusive interview with dpreview.com.

'Over 30% of customers are registering their NX10 - they really want to communicate with us. They're checking for firmware updates every day so we're learning to be more pro-active, trying to improve our service,' he said.

--
All the best,
Jim

Photographers take pictures, not cameras.

 

[Tom Caldwell]

When I was getting the EX1 I discovered how difficult it is to get hold of samsung cameras here in Norway. I went to three stores where I live, none of which had any samsung cameras at all. Also, the biggest camera retailer in Oslo doesn't list Samsung on their website. JapanPhoto, the biggest chain in Norway only offers the EX1 via it's website and no other models.

Are people experiencing the same difficulties in other countries?

I was told here in Australia by a specialist camera store that they did not carry any Samsung cameras because they were mainly sold through electronic goods stores and by implication they would not touch them.

I don't know if this attitude prevails elsewhere.

However it seems a bit contrived as the same electronic goods stores carry Canon, Nikon and Panasonic gear and the specialist shops do not boycott those brands because of this.

Seems like it was a lame excuse for not carrying Samsung gear but I did get the impression that Samsung was not about to appear in his store any time soon.

I suppose if we keep asking the penny will drop eventually.

--
Tom Caldwell
I am always trying ...

 

[brianjgeraghty]

Same deal here in Wisconsin;

I just want to hold the darned thing to make sure I like the way it feels before I make the commitment. I can't find anyone that stocks it; heck most of the specialty stores here had either never heard of it, or balked at the fact that could be asking for something that wasn't a Canon or Nikon.

~ Brian