Word: maxxums
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Dates: during 1986-1986
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From the moment Minolta's sleek Maxxum camera arrived on the market in January 1985, the hot-selling, auto-focusing 35-mm instrument seemed immune to the photographic-equipment industry's usual cutthroat discounting practices. One reason, some consumers claim, is that Minolta coerced its retailers to charge a minimum of $319.95 for the Maxxum and $189.95 for its AF-Tele. Last week John Troncelliti, a suburban Philadelphia barber, filed a national class- action suit against the Japanese manufacturer, charging that it ordered retailers to keep prices high or lose the right to sell Minolta's line...
Consumers have long been able to buy inexpensive point-and-shoot cameras, but the Maxxum was the first fully automated single-lens reflex product to enable people to take high-quality 35-mm pictures with high-technology ease. Now the year-old Maxxum is attracting rivals. Last week Nippon Kogaku (est. fiscal-1985 sales: $940 million), the maker of Nikon, became the first firm to announce a comparable alternative to Minolta's pioneering model. Like the Maxxum, the Nikon N2020 will use two microchips and a tiny motor inside the camera to focus automatically. The camera, which will be priced...
Minolta's head start could prove hard to overcome. "They have a lot of momentum," says Eugene Glazer, a photo-industry specialist for the Dean % Witter Reynolds investment firm. Spurred by the Maxxum, Minolta's profits jumped almost 60% in the first half of fiscal 1985, to $28.5 million. The price of Minolta shares, which are traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, has increased about 60% since January 1985. Minolta closed last week at $4.82 a share...
...Maxxum appeals to a wide range of picture takers, from bird watchers to parents who do not want to miss Junior's first step as they try to focus the camera. Whatever the attraction, many dealers have had to struggle to meet the demand. "We can't keep enough Maxxums in stock," says Michael Schreiber, a salesman for Bel Air Camera in Los Angeles...
...advanced version of the Maxxum, introduced last summer for about $450, is popular with professional photographers. "I am 100% convinced that this will be a trendsetter," said Kishin Shinoyama, whose photos of actresses and models have appeared in leading Japanese magazines. "There will be a new generation of shutterbugs who will grow up with the idea that high-quality cameras can focus automatically." Thanks largely to the Maxxum, professionals and amateurs alike are already beginning to develop that notion...