The following comment was also interesting I thought:
A long time ago we produced similar lenses with much, much cheaper prices. But today we produce everything in Japan, including parts, so we can't be the cheapest product supplier. The only way to survive in the industry is to produce unique products. I think big, heavy but super performance was one of the strategies to differentiate ourselves. But today many companies have similar products so perhaps we need to find another [strategy].
Of course the Art series is our heart and we have many users all over the world, so we'll maintain this lineup. In order to differentiate ourselves we'll need to create new ideas for lenses and we're currently working on it.
I can't tell you [more] now. Maybe after several glasses of sake!