Howard,
there will be sooner or later always a new product - also for the Contax line.
But there is a difference how serious you try to push your products as a producer and how much respect you have for your costumers. This is easily shown in your marketing approach, in your service level, the products you offer etc. Basically in every point which the costumer can see once interested in Contax products.
Of course we know sometimes more than a normal Contax costumers. But it is obvious that not all can be published in this forum.
If you compare for ex&le Zeiss (who are designing the lenses for the Contax cameras and for other brandnames too) with Kyocera, these are 2 different planets. Zeiss is very responsive, it cares about its costumers, it tries to offer the products the costumers want to have (not what an engineer with no photo-experience thinks is good for the world).
Kyocera instead is currently sitting on an island and thinks it knows better what the costumer wants to have than the costumer itself.
After several meetings on the highest level within the last 12 months with Kyocera, this is not just a personal impression, it is clearly visible even for people outside of Contaxinfo.com. This is something you can not hide over the long run. So I would not call this "insider knowledge". I would call it more the sad reality.
But bear in mind that we all use Kyocera/Contax products because of the Zeiss lenses, not because of Kyocera's name.
So if there is also within the next 12 months no serious committment from Kyocera for the Contax line and its costumers, there are many different options in the future to use still Zeiss lenses, but maybe with different bodies behind it
And I do understand as "serious committment" not only the offering of one or two bodies over the next 12 months. Serious committment means for us
1) A lot more lenses (please not again a supertele which nobody can afford and/or carry)
2) Significant improvements on the service level
3) Realistic prices outside of Japan (especially UK and Europe)
4) Digital cameras which can compete with the newest versions of the competition. More in technical details & usability than in prices.
It is always the same. You get what you asked for. If Kyocera is not changing fast its attitude, they can not complain that loyal Contax users of the past turn to other alternatives with Zeiss lenses on it.
Contax sales numbers are around 60% in Japan. Only 40% for the rest of the world. All decisions are made in Japan. And all marketing efforts/product developments are for the Japanese costumers, not for the different needs of different countries.
These decisions are made by people who are not hobbyphotographers, which means they have no clou what the costumer wants to have.
I do not have the exact numbers here, but Japan has around 120 million people, Europe around 240, US around 240. That means Kyocera is not paying attention to almost 3/4 of the worldwide market.
To say it in nice words: This is "unique" in the camera industry - and we are talking with all major manufacturers a lot
As everybody knows, we have been big fans of Contax and Zeiss in the past. But at the end of the day I am a fan of Zeiss lenses, no matter which body is behind it. That is the reason I bought years ago my first Contax. So if I get better possibilities with Zeiss lenses and another body behind it and Kyocera is still not moving towards its costumers, I will not hesitate to follow Zeiss to better cooperation partners.
Just my 2 cents