business: Kodak sad story

Kodak - Wikipedia

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How Just One Camera Destroyed Kodak Forever - YouTube

The Rise and Fall of Eastman Kodak

This documentary explores the spectacular collapse of Eastman Kodak, once a global titan that dominated the photography industry for most of the 20th century.

Peak Dominance

• In 1976, Kodak controlled 90% of the film market and 85% of the camera market in the United States.
• The company was a Dow Jones Industrial Average component for 74 consecutive years.
• At its peak, it employed 145,000 people globally, with 60,000 workers concentrated in its base city of Rochester, New York.
• The company enjoyed a massive 70% gross margin on film products, which created a powerful disincentive to innovate away from their core revenue stream.

The Missed Future

• In 1975, Kodak engineer Steven Sasson invented the world's first digital camera. Despite filing a patent for the technology, management famously dismissed the invention as "cute" and prioritized protecting their lucrative film business.
• Internal reports as early as 1979 and 1981 correctly predicted that digital photography would eventually render film obsolete, but these warnings were largely ignored by leadership.

Strategic Missteps and Bankruptcy

• Kodak attempted to diversify into pharmaceuticals with the $5.1 billion acquisition of Sterling Drug, which resulted in a massive loss of value.
• The company suffered a major legal blow in 1991 when it lost a patent battle against Polaroid, forcing it to recall millions of instant cameras.
• By the time Kodak pivoted to digital cameras, they were decades behind competitors. Even when their "EasyShare" cameras became best-sellers, the company lost money on each unit sold.
• In 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, causing thousands of retirees to lose their healthcare benefits and leading to the demolition of historic manufacturing plants in Rochester.

The Aftermath

• The company famously sold its groundbreaking OLED patent portfolio for $100 million in 2009—a technology now powering nearly every modern smartphone and television screen worth billions annually.
• While Fujifilm successfully navigated the digital transition by pivoting into cosmetics and healthcare, Kodak's rigid adherence to its original business model ultimately led to its historic industrial decline.