5 Signs Sparking Hope for Fujifilm X100VI Shipping Smoother than You’d Think

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Italian Fujifilm distributors Foto Luce is ready to ship out X100VI
Italian Fujifilm distributors Foto Luce is ready to ship out X100VI

In the history of FujiRumors, this will probably go down as the one article that contained the most inaccurate prediction of the history of forecasting.

But with all the talk of crazy preorders for the Fujifilm X100VI, warnings of epic shipping delays, and worries that the only way to snag one in a reasonable time is to soon buy it highly overpriced on eBay from scalpers, I decided to inject a glimmer of optimism within these challenging and difficult circumstances.

And yes, I am well aware that this injection of positivity might sound more like a refusal to accept reality.

And yet, let’s hunt for a bit of hope in the unpredictable journey of X100VI deliveries.

So here are some signs that maybe it won’t be as catastrophic when it comes to X100VI shipping.

1) Where is Fuji’s apology?

It has become almost a standard in the industry: as soon as a product is launched, shortly after companies release a statement that “preorders exceed expectations and we apologize for shipping delays”

Well, it’s been a couple of days now, and so far we still have not received any shipping delay warning due to high demand.

Now watch out the notice to be released right after I published this article :D.

2) X100VI not to order in every country

In some countries, like Japan, you can’t place an order for the Fujifilm X100VI yet.

Fujifilm is likely not doing this out of concern for customers or to prevent lengthy waiting lists. The motive is more pragmatic: they stand to make more profit by selling abroad, especially with the current value of the Yen.

Consequently, they seem to be neglecting their domestic market (Japan) to maximize profits in other markets.

However, this business strategy could be advantageous for customers in North America and Europe. With the X100VI not currently available for sale in Japan, there might be more units available to fulfill orders in these regions.

3) Well Prepared?

Yes, Fujifilm is producing 15,000 Fujifilm X100VI cameras per month. That’s surely not nearly enough to ship out all preorders.

But whether preorders will be sent out quickly doesn’t just depend on how fast they make them now. It also relies on how many cameras Fujifilm manufactured in the weeks and months before the announcement. Let’s hope they made a lot of X100VI cameras well before February 20, so we don’t have to wait too long for ours due to high demand.

4) Inflated Numbers

Not all the preorders we observe are genuinely committed orders. Some people may have placed orders for the X100VI at multiple stores, intending to keep only the one from the store that ships it faster, and then canceling the rest.

As a result, once the initial batch of X100VI units is dispatched, waiting lists at stores could decrease significantly due to a potential influx of cancellations.

5) The China Numbers

We reported about the half a million pre-orders in China. And still as of now, the Chinese account Camerabeta writes in its blog post that these are indeed “orders” (screenshot here). But there are others who say that these are entries for an X100VI lottery, not orders.

Now, it is still crazy that so many people are joining a lottery in the hope to grab an X100VI. This just shows how extremely popular the X100VI is. But a lottery are not orders. So preorders in China might be high, but maybe not half a million.

And Yet…

Look, if you ask me a realistic scenario, then it’s that we are in trouble and that waiting times will be long for most, especially those who are still waiting to place their order.

Just call up your local shop, any shop, big or small, and they will all tell you that the X100VI is setting all-time preorder records.

It’s beyond anything Fujifilm could have ever hoped, as managers already hinted here.

I don’t think any company could have prepared for that.

But not all hope is lost. Maybe, for the reasons I listed below, there is a chance that we won’t have to wait THAT long to put our hands on an X100VI.

And btw… the image you see on top is shared by Italian Fujifilm distributor Foto Luce here. Next week, many of you guys will be able to call themselves happy X100VI owners.

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