UPDATE: BHphoto marked the 150-600mm Contemporary A-mount lens as discontinued (see schreenshot on top). But they just fixed that and it was just an error from their side. Good to hear we will get the lens! :)

Sony launched a revised plan for 2015-2018. And in very short Sony will cut the TV and smartphone lineup and make only profitable high end stuff. At the same time Sony sees growth in Playstation and Image Sensor Business. They also published their plan for the Digital Camera business. You can donwload it as pdf here: sony.net/SonyInfo/IR/info/irday2014electronics/IPandS_E.pdf.

And it clearly stands out how Sony is committed to bring the whole Alpha system to a new level. The first slide on top shows they want to stand out from the competition by going for ultimate sensitivity, ultimate resolution and ultimate speed in 2015.

Their goal is to exceed the limits of human eye:

They want to introduce features like 1000fps recording:

Have over 20 FE lenses by end 2015:

You can see many more info on their document and here below and to sum up here are the key info:

– Sony wants to push the Alpha system to the more advance premium market (RX and Interchangeable lens cameras)
– Sony sees growth in the mirrorless market but still recognizes the DSLR market will still be bigger than Mirrorless by 2018.
– Sony wants to expand the Alpha interchangeable market share at cost of the big ones (Canon/Nikon).

Overall it’s pretty clear 2015 will be an exciting year on the Sony Alpha front. and the Sony A9 which is coming soon is just the start!

There are a couple of more financial reports with some good news:

Reuters Japan: Sony revised upwards the camera sales plan for 2014. While Canon and Nikon digital camera sales are falling Sony reported a growth. While for Sony there is a decrease in numbers of sold camera the earnings are increasing. Mainly because Sony is selling much less non profitable fixed lens budget compacts but it’s gaining shares in the profitable interchangeable camera market.

Reuters: Fitch revises Sony from negative to stable.

Based on the Sony RX100m2 Hasselblad just announced the Stellar II. It costs $2,395 and you can choose between the carbon fibre, olive wood, padouk and walnut editions.

This is their fourth Sony based luxury edition cameras after the [shoplink 22672 ebay]Hasselblad Lunar (here on eBay)[/shoplink], [shoplink 22673 ebay]Stellar (here one Bay)[/shoplink] and the Hasselblad HV (here at BHphoto).

Preorders:
Sony Alpha a7II  (Body Only) for $1,698 at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), SonyStore (Click here).
Sony Alpha a7II  with FE 28-70mm OSS Lens for $1,998 at Amazon (Click here), BHphoto (Click here), Adorama (Click here), SonyStore (Click here).
Sony 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 G SSM II Lens for $1,148 at BHphoto (Click here).

First Sony A7m2 preorder options are available in Germany through Technikdirekt.de (Click here). I also got the news that the A7m2 will ship in Germany starting from January 15. There is also a first “cheater” price of [shoplink 31020 ebay]$2,699 on eBay US[/shoplink].

Worldwide Sony stores are likely to start accepting preorders within th next 24-48 hours. Stay tuned on SAR and I will give you the link as soon as they are online.

P.S.: The price of the Sony a7II in Sweden will be 17500kr or 2347 dollar (Thanks P.!).