Once a Goliath and now a Chapter 11 bankruptcy candidate, Kodak has come a long way. It is one of the classic example of How certain wrong decisions can come back to haunt you. But before we get into what these decisions were and the reason behind these decisions, let us look at the company itself.
Eastman Kodak Company or Kodak as it is commonly called is best known for photographic film products. It dominated most of the 20th century camera and photographic film market.
History
It all began in 1879 and lies in the passion for photography of a certain "George Eastman". George Eastman and Henry A.Strong formed a partnership called the Eastman Dry Plate Company. The company has been called the Eastman Kodak Company since 1892.
George Eastman
Milestones
Eastman Kodak Company or Kodak as it is commonly called is best known for photographic film products. It dominated most of the 20th century camera and photographic film market.
History
It all began in 1879 and lies in the passion for photography of a certain "George Eastman". George Eastman and Henry A.Strong formed a partnership called the Eastman Dry Plate Company. The company has been called the Eastman Kodak Company since 1892.
George Eastman
Milestones
1878 – George Eastman demonstrates gelatin dry plates
over cumbersome and messy wet plates.
1881 – In January, Eastman and Henry A. Strong formed a
partnership known as the Eastman Dry
Plate Company.
1885 - Eastman photographic film was introduced.
1888 – The name “Kodak” was born and the Kodak camera
was placed in the market with the slogan “You press the button - we do the rest”.
1897 -The Pocket Kodak Camera was announced.
1900 – Famous Brownie Cameras were introduced.
1928 - Motion pictures in color became a reality with 16
mm KODA COLOR Film.
1953 – Introduced KODAK Photo Resist – Designed for
making photo lithographic printing plates.
1975 – Invented world’s first digital camera
1980 – Turns 100
1984 – Entered the video market with KODAVISON Series.
1995 – Introduced its first website.
2001 – Intorduced the new ad campaign,
“Share Moments Share Life”.
2011 – Introduced its first waterproof digital still
camera.
Products
DIGITAL CAMERAS : More
than 10 series of digital cameras.
DIGITAL FRAMES :
Includes the SV-series, W-series, OLED series and PULSE series.
Digital Video Cameras : Four Series of Video
Cameras with more than 15 products.
Printers : All-in-One Printers, Printer Docks
and Photo Printers.
Worldwide Presence
Kodak is spread throughout the world and has plants in
the
United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, UK, Ireland, France,
Germany,
Switzerland, Netherlands, Israel, Russia, China, India and Nepal
Financial Condition
The company which once held 90% share in photographic films in the U.S., on Jan 19 2012, filed
for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
Protection. It listed assets of $5.1bn and a debt of $6.8 bn.
The credit deteriorated as the revenue tumbled from
traditional films.KODAK has also shut down
its photo sharing site.
No More the 'Kodak Moment'
The biggest thing about Kodak's bankruptcy is that everyone has been saddened. Almost everyone
who ever owned a camera throughout the 20th century has a soft corner for the company. After all,
Kodak is the company which enabled most of us to capture some of our cherished memories. But
what really went wrong?
Trouble began 20 years ago with the decline of film photography. Kodak invented the digital camera
in the 1975 but did not market it for the fear of downfall of the photographic film business.Throughout
the 1990s it spent billions of dollars for developing the technology for taking pictures through mobile
phones but again, never implemented it in mass market.
The biggest reason for its failure is its leaders' failure to recognize the huge potential of digital
camera.
Future Plans
Though Kodak is down, it is certainly not out! Kodak’s goal
is to come out of bankruptcy in 2013.
The CFO of Kodak has planned to “sell
significant assets”. It is a very IP rich company and is
planning to earn $2.2
bn from the sale of patents. They have also shifted their focus to the printer
business.
Kodak is a company which over the past 131 years has seen
the highest of highs and now the lowest
of lows. It is the epitome of how
managerial decisions can take a company towards self destruction.
It was the
lack of vision or poor judgement, whatever we call it, that has brought it to
this stage. Let’s
all hope that Kodak rises from the ashes like a phoenix and
gives us a lot more of it Moments.
References:
www.kodak.com
www.forbes.com
www.reuters.com
