Kodak file for bankruptcy

[993AL]

Hard to believe that a company so old and with so much to do with the digital camera is going down the tubes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/re...

[Magic919]

Looks more like Chapter 11. Not a huge surprise. They got left behind when digital took off.

[davepoth]

993AL said:

Hard to believe that a company so old and with so much to do with the digital camera is going down the tubes

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/re...

Not really - they failed to realise what the digital camera was going to do. With such a huge business in film it would have taken some serious cojones from a CEO to say "right, we're binning the film business and going digital" ten to fifteen years ago.

[toppstuff]

And rather ironically, Kodak pioneered some of the early work in digital image technology. They played a big part in creating the technology that killed them, but must have made some terrible decisions because having helped invent the technology they failed to control or monetise it properly. Others picked up the baton and ultimately, beat them to death with it...

It is a funny old world.

[Oakey]

From what I understand they sold off all their profitable subsidiaries (chemicals, etc) in order to concentrate solely on the consumer camera market which seemed a bit daft.

[Eric Mc]

Whenever a US corporation files for Chapter 11 BANRUPTCY PROTECTION it is always assumed in the UK that they have filed for bankruptcy. They haven't.

[MX7]

They have done an incredible job of treading water. The Vatican could have given them lessons on progress.

My first digital was a DC20. 0.2Mp!

[MX7]

Eric Mc said:

Whenever a US corporation files for Chapter 11 BANRUPTCY PROTECTION it is always assumed in the UK that they have filed for bankruptcy. They haven't.

Do you think that they will dig themselves out of this then?

[johnfm]

One of their big sectors has been motion pictures.

But digital film cameras will displace 35mm and 16mm film. The technology was once not in the same ballpark as 35mm. I expect it is now getting there - and with the advent of so much green screen film making AND digital cinema projecting and downloading/streaming - film will soon go.

I know they have been saying this for a while - but 10 years ago I had the BBC tech department basically telling production companies that shooting a drama on 16mm was a pain for them, as the grain (let alon sparkle or low light noise) meant that the pictures couldn't be compressed much, so that digital transmission was an issue re: bandwidth.

[Frankeh]

toppstuff said:

And rather ironically, Kodak pioneered some of the early work in digital image technology. They played a big part in creating the technology that killed them, but must have made some terrible decisions because having helped invent the technology they failed to control or monetise it properly. Others picked up the baton and ultimately, beat them to death with it...

It is a funny old world.

Beat me to it. It's amazing how much of a missed opportunity that was.

[Ozzie Osmond]

No-one could have anticipated,

• the effective merger of the mobile phone with cameras
• the staggering cheapness of very powerful consumer electronics products

Compare for instance the glacial pace and cost of electric vehicle development...

[Digga]

toppstuff said:

It is a funny old world.

Gene Simmons off US Apprentice TV show said:

It's a Kodak World

And failled to win them over: http://www.realitytvworld.com/news/gene-simmons-th...

[Eric Mc]

MX7 said:

Eric Mc said:

Whenever a US corporation files for Chapter 11 BANRUPTCY PROTECTION it is always assumed in the UK that they have filed for bankruptcy. They haven't.

Do you think that they will dig themselves out of this then?

No idea.

Just pointing out that Chapter 11 Banruptcy Protection is not bankruptcy itself. Indeed, it's a mechanism to try and stave off bankruptcy.

Many American corporations invoke Capter 11 protection when they are going through difficult periods (American Airlines is currently operating under Chapter 11 at the moment) and emerge from it intact.

[Ozzie Osmond]

Eric Mc said:

Just pointing out that Chapter 11 Banruptcy Protection is not bankruptcy itself. Indeed, it's a mechanism to try and stave off bankruptcy.

Indeed. It's more like what's known in UK as a company being "in administration" - still a functioning business which the administrator has been appointed to rescue as a going concern.

The contrast in UK is a company "in receivership" where a receiver has been appointed to sweep up the wreckage of a company that's gone bust.

[Blib]

It will be interesting to see how this develops.

[mattley]

toppstuff said:

And rather ironically, Kodak pioneered some of the early work in digital image technology. They played a big part in creating the technology that killed them, but must have made some terrible decisions because having helped invent the technology they failed to control or monetise it properly. Others picked up the baton and ultimately, beat them to death with it...

I don't think they made too many bad decisions, they were just incredibly slow at bringing products to market, and most of their failures were based on an excessive amount of quality at a price that the market just couldn't bear, and indeed didn't need to as you say, others beat them.

[anonymous-user]

Eric Mc said:

Whenever a US corporation files for Chapter 11 BANRUPTCY PROTECTION it is always assumed in the UK that they have filed for bankruptcy. They haven't.

I guess Chapter 11 will mean that their debts will be written off. IE not paid. They will then restructure, dumping the non-profitable parts of the business. Kodak Mk2 will emerge, as a printer company etc. Will still exist going forwards...

[rolex]

They should have invented a digital disposable camera.

[Ozzie Osmond]

rolex said:

They should have invented a digital disposable camera.

Hmmmm. Check this out...

Polaroid Corporation is most famous for its instant film cameras, which were the company's flagship product line until the February 2008 decision to cease all production in favor of digital photography products.

After Polaroid defeated Kodak in a patent battle, Kodak left the instant camera business on January 9, 1986.

The company also was one of the early manufacturers of digital cameras, with the PDC-2000 in 1996; however, they failed to capture a large market share.

On October 11, 2001, Polaroid Corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Almost all the company's assets (including the "Polaroid" name itself) were sold to a subsidiary of Bank One. The renamed "old" Polaroid now exists solely as an administrative shell. Its bankruptcy was widely believed to be the result of the failure of its senior management to anticipate the effect of digital cameras on its film business.

On December 18, 2008, the post-reorganization Polaroid Corp. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Minnesota.

[anonymous-user]

Is this similar in concept to what is referred to as 'pre-pack administration'? That's a funny old game from the examples I've seen in the industry I work in.