It was pointed out to me that users might not actually see real price increases. So how can they be price increases? Well, deal margins are being cut. For one popular f/2.8 lens, for instance, the MAP price is US$70 more than the dealer price, representing a product margin of 5.3%. As one dealer told me: "this means that I'll be stocking fewer Canon lenses."
Again, no word on whether Nikon is planning anything similar. But the trend over the past two or three years has been to keep squeezing margin out of the dealers. The net impact is that, if this continues, there won't be many dealers left. Dealers certainly won't be stocking much if their holding costs become greater than their potential profit. One fails to see how this ends well for the camera companies.