It sounds so much an incredibly familiar story. Tumultuous times...
But saying "this isn't the Hasselblad we used to know" is kind of making an ominous statement that, to me, is just such typical modern press hype. Everything is a big deal these days ... a tree falls down in a nearby town and the news is full of 40 second spots about it for two days. Sheesh.
This hasn't been the Hasselblad we used to know for over a decade, since the H system was released and even before. Hasselblad has been struggling hard against the odds for a long long time. I'd rank them to be in about the same tight spot that Leica was in a decade ago, when it was unclear that a digital rangefinder would even be possible never mind successful, when going to a digital model in the R system proved that they simply couldn't afford it, when collusions and collaborations with Hermes and other funding sources made a lot of Leica owners uneasy and a lot of the press pointed fingers and laughed at them.
With just a smidgeon of luck and a great deal of common sense, DJII acquired Hasselblad because they feel there's a solid business case behind the products that Hasselblad is trying to offer and want to fund that and participate in that success (that is: make a profit). It would serve their own best interests to be sure that Hasselblad is successful.
Of course things will change ... they always do ... so there will be different things to observe as this business goes forward. The question is do they want to continue Hasselblad's core business or do they want to exploit the company's brand recognition to do something completely different. At which point, why buy a brand name if what you're going to produce isn't in line with what the brand name is famed for?
As I said elsewhere, it's a new year and a time to hope, to hope in the face of adversity posed by the misery of the world situation, the US government crises, and the possibility that your favorite camera company has just sold its soul to be transformed into something else. Not hoping is akin to dying, so I choose to hope that the sensible thing is what DJII has in mind for Hasselblad.
G