Sony AM-X is a mirrorless camera that is changing the competitive landscape in the professional camera industry. Originally released in March 2019, the features of the camera include a 3:2 aspect ratio, and 28.3 megapixels. As a mirrorless camera, the AM-X is lighter and smaller than DSLR cameras; in fact, the AM-X weighs only 400g, when competitive DSLR cameras weighs 800g. It is available directly to consumers through the Sony website and Sony stores at a price of $6000, which is nearly 10 times the price of regular consumer cameras.

What’s unique about Sony AM-X is its “SmartLight” system. The SmartLight system is a new exposure system that allows AM-X users to take pictures with minimum lighting when compared to existing exposure system (“BrightLight”) used by Sony and its competitors. In fact, photos taken with the Sony AM-X appears two times brighter in the evening when compared to photos taken with cameras that use BrightLight due to the SmartLight. Sony’s decision to pursue advances in a smarter exposure system in cameras came as a result of calls from customer for better lighting in pictures taken at night. In fact, the only difference between Sony AM-X and Sony AM, its predecessor, is the presence of SmartLight.

Sony AM-X has only two competitors in the professional mirrorless camera category; Nikon X1 and Canon EOS-M. Descriptions of the products are provided in Table 1: Product Descriptions.

Table 1: Product Descriptions

Attributes	Sony AM	Nikon X1	Canon EOS-M
Release Date	March 2018	November 2018	January 2019
Aspect Ratio	3:2 aspect ratio	3:2 aspect ratio	3:2 aspect ratio
Pixel Count	28.3 megapixels	29.0 megapixels	28.7 megapixels
Weight	400g	452g	420g
Exposure System	BrightLight	BrightLight	BrightLight
Price	$5500	$5800	$5400

Additionally, the quarterly unit sales of each product is provided in Table 2: Unit Sales.

Table 2: Unit Sales

Quarter	Sony AM-X	Sony AM	Nikon X1	Canon EOS-M
2018-Q1	0	100	0	0
2018-Q2	0	1000	0	0
2018-Q3	0	1200	0	0
2018-Q4	0	1100	300	0
2019-Q1	50	700	600	200
2019-Q2	50	0	925	625
2019-Q3	700	0	600	300

Adam Hobbes, VP of marketing at Sony, has been asked to come up with strategies to increase the sales of Sony AM-X. His suggestion? Expanding the distribution of Sony AM-X to retail stores such as BestBuy and Target. He believes that expanding the number of channels available to Sony will increase the sales of Sony AM-X as it increases the reach of the products to the consumers and makes it more convenient for them to purchase.

Please answer the following questions based on the above information:

Q1 What type of consumer good is Sony AM-X? Provide two justifications by using information from the above text.

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Professional Camera Industry The text explicitly mentions that Sony AMX is changing the competitive landscape in the professional camera industry This indicates that the camera is targeted at professi... View the full answer