US camera pioneer Kodak files for bankruptcy

Who would have imagined that Kodak would one day be bankrupt. Gone were the days when you buy the film first before any pictures could be taken. And you make sure every shot counts. Otherwise money wasted on the film, development of the negatives and the print itself.

Remembered many a times, when the picture turned out black.

Wonder what about Fuji Film, the other big name?????

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US camera pioneer Kodak files for bankruptcy
Posted: 19 January 2012 1503 hrs

NEW YORK: US camera pioneer Eastman Kodak, which brought
photography to the masses over a century ago, filed for bankruptcy early
Thursday.

"After considering the advantages of Chapter 11 at this time,
the Board of Directors and the entire senior management team unanimously
believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the
future of Kodak,"

CEO Antonio Perez said in a statement, referring to US
bankruptcy proceedings."Our goal is to maximize value for
stakeholders, including our employees, retirees, creditors, and pension
trustees.

We are also committed to working with our valued customers," he
added.

The company, which dates back more than a hundred years, was a
pioneer in popularising photography. But it has been struggling to keep pace with the digital age and years of poor performance had already forced it to lay off 47,000 employees and close 13 manufacturing plants since 2003.

"Now we must complete the transformation by further addressing our
coststructure and effectively monetizing non-core IP assets," Perez
said.

"We look forward to working with our stakeholders to emerge a
lean, world-class, digital imaging and materials science company.

"In its heyday Kodak shares topped $80 in 1996 -- just at the outset of
the digital photo revolution that eventually replaced the need for consumers
to buy Kodak film, once a virtual monopoly in the US market.

The bankruptcy filing places the jobs of Kodak's 19,000 remaining employees in
question. At its height in the 1980s, it had 145,000 workers.

Kodak's books have been awash with red ink for years. The last time it reported a net
profit was a small gain in 2007.

Founded in 1892 by inventor George Eastman, Kodak developed handheld"Brownie" cameras that were sold at popular prices and furnished the filmthat would keep consumers pumping profits into the company for decades.

Three generations of Americans and many in other countries learned to snapphotos with Brownies.And "Kodak Moment", the company's advertising catchphrase for its film, was embedded deep into the vernacular.

The company meanwhile was lauded as one of the country's top technologyinnovators -- the Apple or Google of its time.

Ironically, it pioneered research into digital photography beginning in the mid-1970s. But it was Asian manufacturers that stole a march in that marketin the 1990s as Kodak failed to see the need to break from its old businesslines.- AFP/cc