“Eastman Kodak Co, which invented the hand-held camera and helped bring the world the first pictures from the moon, has filed for bankruptcy protection, capping a prolonged plunge for one of America’s best-known companies,” Nick Brown, Caroline Humer and Jonathan Stempel report for Reuters.
“The more than 130-year-old photographic film pioneer, which had tried to restructure to become a seller of consumer products like cameras, said it had also obtained a $950 million, 18-month credit facility from Citigroup to keep it going,” Brown, Humor, and Stempel report. “The loan and bankruptcy protection from U.S. trade creditors may give Kodak the time it needs to find buyers for some of its 1,100 digital patents, the key to its remaining value, and to reshape its business while continuing to pay its 17,000 workers.”
Brown, Humor, and Stempel report, “Kodak once dominated its industry and its film was the subject of a popular Paul Simon song, but it failed to embrace more modern technologies quickly enough, such as the digital camera — ironically, a product it even invented. Its downfall hit its Rust Belt hometown of Rochester, New York, with employment there falling to about 7,000 from more than 60,000 in Kodak’s heyday. Its market value has sunk to below $150 million from $31 billion 15 years ago.”
“In its bankruptcy, Kodak could try to restructure its debts, or perhaps sell all or some of its assets, including the patent portfolio and various businesses. It is unclear how Kodak will address its pension obligations, many of which were built up decades ago when U.S. manufacturers offered more generous retirement and medical benefits than they do now. Many retirees hail from Britain where Kodak has been manufacturing since 1891,” Brown, Humor, and Stempel report. “The company had promised to inject $800 million over the next decade into its UK pension fund. It now remains unclear how that country’s pension regulator might seek to preserve some or all of the company’s obligations to British pensioners.”
Read more in the full article here.
They went digital too late and didn’t do it right.
They went digital early on, but treated it as a hobby, underestimating the speed at which customers embraced evolving FLAN technologies.
Treating as a hobby means they went digital too late.
I wonder how much the CEO makes, probably more that $1.00 per year.
Probably made alot less than Steve Jobs made per year.
Less than a dollar a year? I doubt it.
Unless you’re referring to Jobs’ stock options. In that case, yeah, I’m sure Kodak stock options aren’t worth much.
——RM
Time to watch a Kodachrome slide show and munch a Twinkie while they last.
Take your time. Twinkies last forever.
——RM
What are 17,000 workers currently doing at Kodak?
The Reuters writer are ignorant morons. They probably think they need a passport to leave Manhattan.
Rochester is a high tech, not rust belt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/17/nyregion/despite-long-slide-by-kodak-rochester-avoids-decay.html
I keep thinking of Microsoft.
Visualize Steve Ballmer naked. That should cure you of that those thoughts.
Google, like Kodak, is essentially a one product company. When demand for that one product falls off a cliff, you’re essentially non viable. In other words dead, six feet under, not breathing, done for.
Yep, one tech paradigm shift away from being a non-viable company existence. Perfected Siri > Google anyone?
BLN, once again, you know not that which you speak of.
You mean the dinosaur company that makes the crappiest paper and mediocre film company in the world is going bankrupt? What a surprise. What karma, Kodak’s Edison style business tactics of buying and burying their competition while pushing lesser quality films and papers is finally come around to bite them in them ass.
If Kodak would actually produce something new since the 70’s instead of patent trolling maybe they would survived the digital revolution.
In our Digital age, never ever be complacent !
One should always be up and about, if not your dead meat. Alway remember ” The only constant is change”.
This is a “Kodak Moment” for sure. It’s sad that the executive leadership of Kodak failed to reinvent themselves in a timely manner.
Arrogance killed Kodak.
My last Kodak camera was the Apple QuickTake. I bought two of them for little more than a thousand dollars. I have one left.
Oh well, the company lasted for more than 125-years. That’s what I call staying power. Apple would be as lucky to last as long.
Apple should have bankrolled that Kodak loan at favorable rates in return for some ownership (control over distribution of patents) and a provision that would increase Apple ownership in the event that it goes under.
That’s what I would have done, if I had $81B and wanted a cost effective way of controlling patent risk.