It seems to me that every camera company has turned their attention on the middle ground between compacts and DSLRs. The basic compact cameras are now commodities, require updating every year, have extremely low price (and profit) points, and are selling in lower numbers now than last year. There's not enough room for everyone to play in that market. I expect long term we'll see only six viable makers in that arena (Sony, Canon, Panasonic, Nikon, Fujifilm, and Samsung), and only two or three of them will be profitable.
In the traditional DSLR realm, the barrier to entry is now high and the volume growth is all gone. Sales outlets are disappearing and prices (and thus profit) are under extreme pressure. I expect we'll end up with four viable DSLR makers long term: Canon, Nikon, Sony, and Panasonic/Olympus.
But the area between these two seems to be where the current action is at. Basically the segment between the Coolpix S6xx/S7xx and the D60 is what seems to be the current design target for everyone. I can't think of a company that isn't pursuing this. Two basic thrusts seem to leading the way: (1) DSLR-like small sensor designs with a fixed lens of considerable range (the Pentax X70 just announced hits 26-624mm); and (2) mirrorless removable lens systems with big sensors (right now only Panasonic, Olympus, and Samsung are showing any, but they won't be the last).
The way I see it, neither of those choices give you low-end DSLR performance. The all-in-one designs have sensors that are too small (though I'll admit that I've been impressed with Fujifilm's S100FS, which has the best sensor performance of any I've tried). Both types use contrast based focusing systems, which just don't have the snap of even a D60 with the 18-55mm. What both do give you is a smaller size and weight for a complete package (though not always by much).
Meanwhile, there are quite a few reasonable-sized niches that simply are going unserved. The camera companies all seem to think that only markets with the most unit volume are worth pursuing, and frankly, more than a few are going to get burnt by that. A recession is a perfect time to innovate and fill those niches, yet I see no real evidence that anyone is doing so (the Panasonic G1 and Samsung NX notwithstanding; they are the closest we've got to innovating into a niche we've got).
I was with a half dozen other photographers for the last week in a snow coach in Yellowstone. What struck me then and has been on my mind for a long time now is how much we serious photographers have been complaining about what we're offered. The cameras we get these days are often too much (in terms of complexity, size, and price). Cameras we'd buy in a heartbeat don't exist (e.g. black and white). Things that have been wrong with our camera systems for a long time are still wrong--doesn't matter if you're a Canon, Nikon, or Sony user--as if the makers haven't actually heard a thing their customers have said. What I see everywhere in the industry is extension of what has been done in the past, and virtually no rethinking about how it could be better done differently.
As a long-time veteran of Silicon Valley, I recognize that for what it is: opportunity. Unfortunately, I'm not seeing anyone that can do something about it jumping at the opportunity. (Before I get a flood of emails about RED, let me just say that while there's innovation there, it's not well directed, IMHO. It's still too early to tell since all that seems to exist are drawings and marketing hype from the billionaire owner, but what I've seen to date looks far too cumbersome to supplant DSLRs, and a bit self-indulgent to boot.)
Thus, I, too, am somber and subdued about the camera market. But not because of the economy like most of those attending PMA. Instead, I'm saddened to see that the camera market is getting more and more like the car market and less and less like the high tech industry that revolutionized things in my working life and which I was proud to be part of.
Yes, there will be more Nikon DSLRs this year. As far as I can tell, all three of them will be extensions of the current philosophies. As such, they'll be competitive with the offerings of the other companies, but they won't be what I've been looking for.