Good bye Kodak

During more than 40 years this little metal can had been part of my journey around the world. Ten thousands of slides are sleeping in their boxes. Time changes but Kodak missed the change.

Kodak, the company that brought photography to the masses at the dawn of the 20th century and was known all over the world for its Brownie and Instamatic cameras and its yellow-and-red film boxes, was brought down first by Japanese competition and then by its inability to keep pace with the lightning shift from film to digital technology over the past decade.

Early Thursday January 19, 2012 Kodak has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, as it seeks to boost its cash position and stay in business.
Since 2005, it has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into new lines of inkjet printers that are finally on the verge of turning a profit. Home photo printers, high-speed commercial inkjet presses, software and package printing are viewed as Kodak’s new core.

Kodak’s executives are hoping the printer, software and packaging businesses will more than double in size by 2013 and account by then for 25% of its revenue, or nearly USD 2 billion. The rest of the company’s revenue comes mainly from traditional film, disposable cameras, photographic paper and chemicals.

[Editor’s comment:]  Good luck Kodak. You will need it. Competition is stiff and the movie industry went digital long ago. Disposable cameras are the past – any cellphone shoots pictures and print-shops can be found at any corner. And printers come from Canon, Brother, Epson and HP.