The economy still occupies the minds of many, as evidenced by many postings on the various fora, the messages in my In Box, and complaints about things like Nikonians now charging for accounts and Nikon raising prices.
Much of the complaining is just frustration, and to a lesser degree a lack of understanding about what is going on. I understand frustration. So go ahead and let it out, then quickly move on. Anything else is just asking for a stress attack.
One common theme among the complaints is "I'm cutting back, so why are prices going up?" After all, conventional wisdom says lower demand should generate lower prices. The short answer is this: what you need to do to survive the current economy and what someone else needs to do (say, Nikon) may be different. And to some degree, these things may be at odds with one another. The appreciation of the yen has been a double whammy for the Japanese companies, as it makes dealing with the falling demand even tougher. But Japan isn't alone in this. US exports are suffering, too, as our currency is appreciating against a lot of currencies, too.
Here in the US it's a little easier to see Nikon's strategy for surviving the downturn than it is elsewhere. Basically, Nikon raised prices the most (to adjust for currency fluctuations) on lenses that were in short supply and in high demand. They did not raise prices on camera bodies and most consumer items, regardless of demand. In no case did they raise prices enough to fully match the currency slide. Thus, it appears to me that they've chosen to bring down demand on the short supply speciality items and absorb losses on the mainstream products. Yet, even with that in mind, they are projecting that they'll sell about half the unit volume this quarter compared to last year's comparable quarter, partly because there are many economies where they had to do across-the-board price increases to keep from losing money on every sale (the UK, for example). Will they have to adjust more? Who knows for sure, but probably. This recession will be long and deep, and at this point it appears that you can't make a single adjustment that'll get you through it.
But that's what Nikon is doing. The real question is what are you doing? The answer to that question depends upon whether you rely upon photography for your income (i.e. are a professional), use photography as your primary escape or hobby (the so-called prosumer or serious amateur), or are just casually interested in photography. It also depends upon whether your economic fundamentals are in good shape or bad.
Let's assume for a moment that you're a serious amateur that doesn't have much debt, that your job is reasonably safe (though your annual raises and bonuses are gone), that you have some savings for a safety valve, and that photography is primary non-job outlet. Has anything really changed for you? Sure, that 200-400mm f/4 lens you wanted just got more expensive and will take a little longer to save up for (remember, you're basically economically sound). But this summer's trip to Yellowstone probably got a little less expensive, too. Now's a good time to make sure that your skill sets and knowledge are up to snuff, and that you're using your current gear optimally. But realistically, the slower economy just slowed you down in gear purchases, which frankly, isn't necessarily a bad thing.
The working pro's big issue with the economy is keeping and adding clients while trying to hold the line on discounts. If you give into the demands for lower prices and charge less, you either have to make it up with more work or you have to accept that you'll bill less this year. But it should be obvious that your primary focus this year needs to be on your marketing and sales. Not just the quantity of them, but the quality of those two things. Don't wait for the clients to call you; call them and find out what they need, then try to figure out how to give it to them. Like the serious amateur, the working pro is also likely to slow down their gear purchases. Indeed, it isn't better gear that will get you through the downturn, it's better client relations.
That leaves the more casual, low-end photographer: the group that can take-it-or-leave-it completely. Now it should make more sense why the Nikon low-end products didn't change price here in the US and continue (mostly) to have the pre-Christmas incentives in effect: these folk aren't committed to photography, per se, thus raising prices on them will absolutely make them go away. As it is, a lot of them will go away until their paychecks get bigger and they know what their home is worth.
Are Nikon's US tactics the right ones? Hard to say, though it does seem as if they're in better shape than some of their competitors at the moment. As I noted above, however, getting through this recession isn't going to take one change in business practices. We'll certainly see Nikon make other adjustments as we get further into the downturn. Those adjustments may or may not be the ones you want, though, as Nikon is having to adjust globally and in Japan, and you, only locally (and likely not in Japan if you're reading this).
If I had to read the tea leaves, though, I'd say this: Nikon will certainly have more DSLR models and lenses coming, probably in spring. (Okay, I'll go further: we'll see a low-end DSLR to replace the D40 and eventually D60, and a high-megapixel FX DSLR to compete with the 5DII better in spring, along with three more lenses; later in the year we'll see a D400 to replace the D300.) I don't see Nikon stopping the product stream or even slowing product cycles. If anything, recessions reward companies that can innovate in downturns and that don't turn off their product pipeline. I also think we'll see a return of instant rebates on targeted items as it becomes clearer to NikonUSA which items still move at the higher prices and which are piling up too fast.