Fujifilm has issued a press release stating that it underestimated demand for the X-T2. It hasn't been issued in English yet, but here's Stephen Scharf's attempt at a modified autotranslation:
Dear Customers:
Thank you for your continued patronage of Fujifilm Mirrorless Digital camera products.
[The] FUJIFILM X-T2 has received a [greater] reservation of [orders] than [we] assumed [for] production, and has become a situation where we cannot keep up with the orders. For this reason, you may be asked for a while to deliver the product you ordered. And we apologize for the inconvenience to our customers.
Actually, there is no excuse, so we will continue to work to [increase] production. I would like to humbly thank you for your understanding.
What this probably means is that the planned first shipment was not enough to comfortably fulfill the pre-orders, and Fuji might actually have left some pre-orders unfulfilled, which happens from time to time with popular cameras. Actually, it used to happen more often back in the days of the Big Churn in the camera market (call it 2005–2012 maybe) when progress was more intense. Here's the press release in Japanese.
If a Japanese speaker would like to give us a more elegant translation, please do.
Mike
(Thanks to Stephen)
UPDATE Saturday: If you enter the Japanese press release into Google Translate, the salutation comes out as "Dear Thank you thick continued patronage Fujifilm product." But apprently Fujifilm is only apologizing to its Japanese Thank you thick continued patronage Fujifilm products, because the press release still hasn't been issued in English or other languages. —Ed.
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Featured Comments from:
Stephen Scharf: "Fuji's initial 'demand planning' may have been inaccurate due to the just how successful they were with the X-T2. From early reports of owners taking delivery and immediately testing production units, it appears that the X-T2 is a quantum leap in functionality, features, and quality attributes over the X-T1. Could be that DSLR users (and more pros) are finally moving to mirrorless, and demand is outstripping production.
"The same thing happened with the second generation iPad. Lot of folks (including me) sat on the fence for Gen 1, but when Gen 2 hit, the market virtually exploded. Folks may remember that back in the spring of 2011, it was extremely difficult to buy a Gen 2 iPad anywhere. Another reason that some pre-orders may have been unfulfilled is that Fuji was unable to obtain the volume of 24-megapixel sensors needed from Sony due to the recent earthquake, which significantly impacted manufacturing."
Mike replies: I could swear I read somewhere that Fuji lucked out and got its order of the new sensors before the earthquake hit. Can't recall where I read it though.
John Beardsworth: "Not sure I believe the statement. Last weekend I ordered one from a major UK online retailer (Wex) and when I found there was a waiting list I was utterly distraught, heartbroken, on the verge of leaping off the White Cliffs of Dover. Well, this morning my back order's status changed to 'in stock' and it'll be with me on Monday. I suspect Fuji ramped up production for a long time before release date. Has there ever been a camera with so many 'pre-production' bodies floating around?"
Mike replies: It would be difficult for me to research the details of distribution well enough to write about it intelligently. It's likely that most dealers do get a prescribed number of cameras from the first shipment, whether they have a waiting list or not. So one camera store might say they were sold out instantly and another can have the same camera in stock for days or weeks or even longer. I recall when the Sony A7 first came out and was hard to get from the big suppliers, a local hole-in-the-wall camera store in Wisconsin had one that they had trouble moving—it sat on their shelf for quite a long time. Maybe because most of their business was in printing services, bags, tripods, frames, memory cards, and lower-end equipment.
What might have happened in your case was that as Wex went through its waiting list it encountered a number of people who passed on the camera when it came time to actually buy, so they moved down the list—which freed one up for you. To me it looks more like your good luck, rather than the press release being untrue. But I don't know.
Bob Johnston [no relation to Mike]: "Confession time—I broke my number one rule when buying a new camera—which is to wait at least six months after it is released. I received mine today. Fuji seem to have addressed every little problem that the XT-1 had and it's one lovely camera. I am not surprised at the high demand. Now all I need is a way to patch the hole in my bank account."
Rats! Now it probably will take much longer than usual for Fuji to launch its first round of promotional discounts.
This, sadly, is the inevitable consequence when a camera manufacturer listens to customers’ feedback about the first generation of a product, and incorporates their suggestions into the second generation.
Posted by: Chris Kern | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 10:43 AM
I preordered the X-T2 through my local store and expected to be in the first five or so, though they would not tell me. I arrived yesterday to be told they had received only TWO body-only boxes, TWO, for a reasonably major brick and mortar store.
My initial frustration with the store, with whom I've had a great relationship for many years and where I've happily spent thousands of dollars, has turned to frustration with Fuji. Good management figures out supply and demand equations, though far bigger firms, eg Apple, do not have a good history in this arena. No sale, no income, no income, no profit. I'm sure there's some sort of corporate excuse, likely the earthquake. To be sure, there are much more important things, this is a first order first world problem, but frustrating nonetheless. I suspect I'm not alone.
Posted by: Eric Brody | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 11:24 AM
For whatever it's worth, I believe this is the source for the Fujifilm-earthquake-sensors information: http://www.mirrorlessrumors.com/around-4-months-delay-roadmap-sony-panasonic-olympus-nikon-fuji-lucky/
Posted by: Matthew Miller | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 12:51 PM
Time to start looking for closeout deals on the X-T1 :-)
Posted by: Kev Ford | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 02:25 PM
This morning I visited my local pusher ... er, dealer, to have a play with the X-T2 and lenses. The camera looks very inviting indeed, and works ergonomically with the lenses I would be most interested in: the 23mm f2, 56mm f1.2, and 16-55 f2.8. It also appears to work very effectively in manual focus with other brand lenses like Leica. It was hard to tell in the store, how well the auto focus will work in sports situations, but all the components seem to be in place. I was given a mail-in rebate voucher of $50 if I decide soon, and was told that they had several in stock if I needed to have one now.
As far as the action performance goes, the Fuji rep, told me that they are setting up an arrangement at the store that will allow anyone to take the camera home for a three day 'rental' at zero cost. I thought that was a pretty gutsy marketing strategy, but I will wait to see what the micro 4/3 camp unveils later this month, before I take up the offer.
Posted by: Peter Wright | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 05:49 PM
Up until Sunday I hadn't decided whether I would upgrade yet or wait a few months, but on Monday I decided to ring my usual dealer and he said it shouldn't be a problem and would probably be in on Thursday so I put my name on the list. Come Thursday he rang me to say we have one for you and it's on the way! This is a store with a pretty good market presence but doesn't have an online shop so that may make a difference for some people but it was $170 cheaper than all the other places in Australia that were taking internet (pre)orders, so I have nothing to complain about.
Posted by: Kefyn Moss | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 06:49 PM
@Bob Johnston: Take a quick shot of your bank statement with "the best camera" (the one you have with you), import into Lightroom, open the spot removal tool, adjust diameter and feathering accordingly for the size of the "hole" (in this case...pretty large), and fill. You'll quickly forget it ever existed. For best results, as Mike is known to advocate, print the resulting picture and let it hang in a place where you'll see it frequently.
Posted by: Ben Shugart | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 07:40 PM
Lots of good comments from the gang here, as usual.
@Chris Kern: As a "Voice of the Customer" (VOC) professional, yep, that's what happens! :-) When I teach VOC, a key point I stress is that when a company puts customer needs and first and foremost in creating innovative products that deliver maximal quality and value for customers, everyone wins: the customer, the company, and society as a whole (thank you, W. Edwards Deming).
@Eric Brody: All valid points, but sometimes, sometimes, a company hits a Grand Slam home run with a product just "connects" with customers and the demand exceeds all sales forecast models. As the statistician George Box once said, "All models are imperfect, some are more useful than others." Knowing Fuji, they will get back on top of this post-haste. The fact they ended their press release with, "Actually, there is no excuse..." tells us that they are committed to meeting production demand. When the X-T1 debuted with the "sensor flare through the video side door" failure mode, Fuji had a fix, a customer service communication distributed to customers, a phone number, a free shipping label, and a service plan in place in less than 10 days flat. My early serial no. X-T1 went in for that fix and I received it back in 4 days: shipped out on Monday, received on Tuesday, turned the repair around in less than one day and shipped on Wednesday, and I had it back in hand on Thursday. If there is one thing Fuji knows how to do, it's execute.
Posted by: Stephen Scharf | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 10:27 PM
Hmmm. XT-2's seem to be readily available at the three stores I visited yesterday.
Gordon
Posted by: Gordon Cahill | Friday, 09 September 2016 at 11:42 PM
As a heavy Nikon shooter I've been dreaming about going over to the Fuji XT2.
I got to try one a trade show this week and to be honest it was a big dissapointment. It felt like very fragile to me. The image quality is not in doubt but the build quality just didn't impress at all.
The lenses seemed much more solid than the camera body, I'd have no issue with them, but I couldn't see myself relying on the XT2 for professional jobs out in the rain and cold all day, I just felt like they'd not be tough enough...
Am I missing somethiong here? I was really surprised based on the love this camera seems to be getting...
AaronL
Posted by: AaronL | Saturday, 10 September 2016 at 04:30 AM
Stephen's translation is pretty much all you need to understand Fuji's announcement. Below is one in more natural English without the overly flowery language used in the Japanese original:
Dear customer,
A warm thank you for your continued patronage of Fujifilm products.
Concerning the Fujifilm X-T2, we have received more orders than expected. Therefore, it will be "a number of days*" before your order arrives. We are terribly sorry for the trouble this may have caused you.
We'll continue to work hard to produce good products. Thank you so very much for your understanding.
*They literally wrote "a number of days" which makes it seem like it won't be an extended wait.
[So is the "there is no excuse" line not in the original? What that a matter of translating idiom? --Mike]
Posted by: D. Hufford. | Saturday, 10 September 2016 at 05:13 AM
Here is a more natural (not literal) translation of the announcement.
"Dear Customers
Thank you for using Fujifilm products.
As the number of reservations for the mirrorless digital camera “FUJIFILM X-T2” far exceeded our expectations, we do not have enough cameras to fill all orders. Therefore, delivery of your camera may be delayed by several days.
We apologize for this inconvenience.
We are working to increase production and thank you for your understanding."
Posted by: Bill Morgan | Saturday, 10 September 2016 at 09:27 PM
According to the New Yorker nothing Fujifilm or any other camera company does matters. They are all "doomed".
http://www.newyorker.com/business/currency/with-the-iphone-7-apple-changed-the-camera-industry-forever?mbid=social_twitter
Posted by: Dave Kee | Saturday, 10 September 2016 at 10:22 PM
The "there is no excuse" is from "moshiwake arimasen" which is often a part of a very polite, formal apology.
It this context, it wouldn't have the same meaning as in English. I hear it almost every day when the train is late...just part of a polite apology to a customer or someone of higher status.
Posted by: D. Hufford. | Tuesday, 13 September 2016 at 08:35 AM
John Beardsworth's experience along with the Japanese only issue of the apology might indicate that caught short, Fuji is being smart and giving its O/S markets preference while relying on Japanese culture to keep its Japanese customers hanging on the line -- as they will.
Cheers, Geoff
Posted by: Geoffrey Heard | Tuesday, 13 September 2016 at 06:43 PM