bartman wrote:Why? well if BM are (for some reason) planning to delay the release of the MFT, then I am sure many of us would like to opt for one of the other cameras.
That may well be true, but our current experience would suggest that merely changing camera model would not put us in a better position. We would just be waiting eternally for a different object. It might be worth pointing out to them that there are some countries where reputable dealers will not accept pre-orders without a 25% deposit, which is a substantial chunk of cash. We've made our commitment to them, now its about time they reciprocated. Personally I think we're beyond addressing these matters to the Community Relations Manager, only to get a "there's no information to share at this time" answer. There
is information, or lets put it this way, if there isn't you'd better let any third party investors know as your company is in VERY serious trouble with the taxman if it can't account for assets, liabilities, shipping and sales turnover.
Sometimes I wonder if they don't actually understand their customer base for these products. They're attempting to attract customers working on low to moderate budget planned productions with defined shooting schedules and heavy IQ/workflow requirements yet behaving as though they're producing handycams for soccer-moms who think it might be nice to grab some shots of the kids playing. These are not the same markets, the latter don't care much if its late, they'll just go without or buy something else. The former market involves people who may have made project commitments based on the previous delivery statements by BMD and suffer additional cost and inconvenience having to get rental cover for a product they ordered in plenty of time. Its not really very good is it.
So:
1. What is the status with the backlog of EF mount pre-orders?
2. When is MFT mount volume shipping scheduled to begin?
3. Is there a regional shipping priority? if so what is it?
4. Based on existing data and normalised order projections, when is the production shortfall likely to move to surplus?
5. Have the original BMCC products been de-prioritized in favor of the recent NAB announcements? If so what mitigation is in place to prevent loss of turnover through BMCC pre-order losses? Or are you simply assuming customers will wait indefinitely?
All of those are questions that any sensible investor would ask (and a whole lot more). If, as you say, you cant answer them, your current investors might want a word. Even Sony provide this information in public statements and no-one would accuse them of being overly-communicative.