Eastman Kodak Company

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

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