So what's Nikon's strategy for selling more cameras?
From all appearances, it looks like they're using the shotgun strategy, or to use a food metaphor (because I'm hungry at the moment): they're throwing the spaghetti at the wall to see what sticks.
Evidence? A mirrorless camera system different than everyone elses. An Android based camera. A camera with no card slot or removable battery (S01). A camera with a projector in it. A camera with 36mp, or 50%+ more than anyone else is doing in the same format. Cameras that need to be supplied with "Stylus Touch Pens" (which is a fancy name for a slab of plastic). Cameras that are square in shape (P310). Cameras that are round. Indeed, a total of 44 cameras are currently listed on the NikonUSA pages, including one that NikonUSA appears not to have issued a press release for (but it comes in two shades of purple and one of teal, so colors, too, are all over the place).
What sticks in your head is the scream you hear from your local dealer as they realize that they have to stock 75 different cameras just to stock what's in Nikon's coop advertising flyers that you'll find in your local paper most weeks. And that's not counting special lens or other kits. As I noted in a story earlier this week, Nikon now has Coolpix cameras priced every US$15. There's gotta be something in there for you, right? (To all you Nikon employees and camera store sales counter folk, here's a challenge: take just the Coolpix line and give me a clear, one-page summary of who'd buy what for what reason. It can't actually be done. Consider the L610, just introduced at US$250 and the next model up in that lineup, the L810, which sells for, oh, US$200. How do you sell the L610?)
Such shotgun tactics tend to tell me that a company is jumping the shark (yes, another Hollywood reference). They've elevated themselves to thinking that they need to sell every possible widget you might like or need, rather than the best possible widgets.
This isn't the first time Nikon has pursued such a course. Back in the 60's through 80's, Nikon managed to put out more than 40 variations on film SLRs, and don't get me started trying to count all the other stuff. Very little of that stuck to the wall, either.
My question is this: who's driving Nikon's camera strategy and where are they taking it to?
The good news, I suppose, is that DSLR lineup hasn't quite been hit with the same level of chaos as the compact camera lineup.