Kodak files Chapter 11 bankruptcy, expects to complete restructuring by 2013

[design_freak]

It has become...

http://www.engadget.com/2012/01/19/kodak-chapter-11-bankruptcy/

[Wills]

Sad times

[Martin Kristiansen]

That is sad news indeed.

[BJL]

I do not mind so much when a grand old man like Kodak retires, leaving many active and productive off-spring (like photography accessible to the masses, and digital photography) ... so long as nothing of current value is lost. Maybe all the new technology stuff like Kodak's many digital imaging patents will be better off sold or licensed to companies that are in a better position to deliver their value to users (like the sensor division, already sold).

Can a re-organized, drastically downsized "twilight" Kodak just keep its film-related production going until its natural course runs out, as Ilford seems to be doing?

[amsp]

This seems like a good thing to me. Kodak is a bloated badly organized corporation and this will give it the possibility to restructure and hopefully emerge a more lean machine concentrating on the things they do best without the excess baggage dragging them down.

[nightfire]

This seems like a good thing to me. Kodak is a bloated badly organized corporation and this will give it the possibility to restructure and hopefully emerge a more lean machine concentrating on the things they do best without the excess baggage dragging them down.

Alas, currently it looks like they're best at filing patent lawsuits 

[Alan Klein]

It is sad.  As a kid so many years ago, opening up the orange-yellow or is it gold box, loading and shooting the film and then getting the prints or slides back was a little magical, maybe a lot.  You had to wait a few days and then be surprised with delight or disappointment in your skills as a shooter.  I looked at Kodak products as kids today look at Apple products.  Gifts from the Gods.  As I approach my twilight years, I suppose my feelings are very personal,  and scary to realize that nothing lasts.

[nightfire]

Just read the press release in detail.

[...] “Chapter 11 gives us the best opportunities to maximize the value in two critical parts of our technology portfolio: our digital capture patents, which are essential for a wide range of mobile and other consumer electronic devices that capture digital images and have generated over $3 billion of licensing revenues since 2003; and our breakthrough printing and deposition technologies, which give Kodak a competitive advantage in our growing digital businesses.” [...]

Does that mean that Kodak film is definitely... dead?

[ErikKaffehr]

Hi,

I don't know. I guess that 98% of the amateur film market is gone and movie industry is probably going in the same direction, now that we they have cameras like the Arri Alexa.

I'm pretty sure Kodak will make film as long as it is profitable. I guess there is some market for medium and large format film.

Fuji seems to be in good shape, but photo industry seems only to be something like 15-20% of their income.

Best regards
Erik

Just read the press release in detail.

[...] “Chapter 11 gives us the best opportunities to maximize the value in two critical parts of our technology portfolio: our digital capture patents, which are essential for a wide range of mobile and other consumer electronic devices that capture digital images and have generated over $3 billion of licensing revenues since 2003; and our breakthrough printing and deposition technologies, which give Kodak a competitive advantage in our growing digital businesses.” [...]

Does that mean that Kodak film is definitely... dead?

[hasselbladfan]

Agree, very sad. The end of an era. I remember as a kid starting with a Kodak Instamatic 100. It now looks like ages ago, but it is only 40 years ago.