Kodak

Not to be confused with Kodiak.
For the company that owns the surviving photographic assets, based in Hertfordshire, UK, see Kodak Alaris. For other uses, see Kodak (disambiguation).

Eastman Kodak Company
Company typePublic
Industry
PredecessorThe Eastman Dry Plate and Film Company
FoundedMay 23, 1892; 132 years ago (1892-05-23)
Founders
HeadquartersKodak Tower
Rochester, New York, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
James V. Continenza (executive chairman and CEO)
ProductsDigital imaging, photographic materials, equipment and services, batteries
RevenueDecrease US$1.12 billion (2023)
Increase US$87 million (2023)
Increase US$75 million (2023)
Total assetsIncrease US$2.36 billion (2023)
Total equityDecrease US$931 million (2023)
Number of employees
4,000 (2023)
Websitekodak.com
Footnotes / references
[1]
Kodak 35mm film cartridge alongside Asahi Pentax film camera. The shift from film to digital greatly affected Kodak's business.
Kodacolor II 126 film cartridge, expiration year 1980.

The Eastman Kodak Company, referred to simply as Kodak (/ˈkoʊdæk/), is an American public company that produces various products related to its historic basis in film photography. The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York, and is incorporated in New Jersey.[2] It is best known for photographic film products, which it brought to a mass market for the first time.[3]

Kodak began as a partnership between George Eastman and Henry A. Strong to develop a film roll camera. After the release of the Kodak camera, Eastman Kodak was incorporated on May 23, 1892.[4] Under Eastman's direction, the company became one of the world's largest film and camera manufacturers, and also developed a model of welfare capitalism and a close relationship with the city of Rochester.[5] During most of the 20th century, Kodak held a dominant position in photographic film, and produced a number of technological innovations through heavy investment in research and development at Kodak Research Laboratories.[6][7] Kodak produced some of the most popular camera models of the 20th century, including the Brownie and Instamatic.[8][9] The company's ubiquity was such that its "Kodak moment" tagline entered the common lexicon to describe a personal event that deserved to be recorded for posterity.[10]

Kodak began to struggle financially in the late 1990s as a result of increasing competition from Fujifilm.[11] The company also struggled with the transition from film to digital photography, although Kodak had developed the first self-contained digital camera.[12] Attempts to diversify its chemical operations failed, and as a turnaround strategy in the 2000s, Kodak instead made an aggressive turn to digital photography and digital printing.[13] These strategies failed to improve the company's finances, and in January 2012, Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.[14][15][16]

In September 2013, the company emerged from bankruptcy, having shed its large legacy liabilities, restructured, and exited several businesses.[17] Since emerging from bankruptcy, Kodak has continued to provide commercial digital printing products and services,[18] motion picture film,[19] and still film,[20] the last of which is distributed through the spinoff company Kodak Alaris.[21] The company has licensed the Kodak brand to several products produced by other companies, such as the PIXPRO line of digital cameras manufactured by JK Imaging.[22] In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Kodak announced in late July that year it would begin production of pharmaceutical materials.[23]

  1. ^ "Eastman Kodak Company 2023 Annual Report (Form 10-K)". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. March 14, 2024. Retrieved March 16, 2024.
  2. ^ "Certificate of amendment to the restated certificate of incorporation of Eastman Kodak company" (PDF). New Jersey division of revenue. June 8, 2005. Archived (PDF) from the original on February 1, 2017. Retrieved January 7, 2008.
  3. ^ Peres, Michael (January 12, 2017). Laboratory Imaging & Photography: Best Practices for Photomicrography & More. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-59301-0. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
  4. ^ "Eastman Kodak Company: That's the New Name of the Big Corporation". Democrat and Chronicle. Rochester, New York. May 24, 1892. p. 9. Archived from the original on May 13, 2021. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  5. ^ Jacoby 1997, p. 57.
  6. ^ Sturchio, Jeffrey (April 8, 2020). "Festschrift: experimenting with research: Kenneth Mees, Eastman Kodak and the challenges of diversification". Science Museum Group Journal. 13 (13). doi:10.15180/201311. S2CID 219742210.
  7. ^ T. H. James, Journey: 75 Years of Kodak Research (Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, 1989).
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference Muzdakis-2021 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Morrell-2015 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ Rees, Jasper (January 20, 2012). "The end of our Kodak moment". The Telegraph. London. Archived from the original on January 20, 2012. Retrieved January 20, 2012.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference autogenerated32 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference latimes12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ "Kodak embraces digital revolution". BBC News. January 13, 2004. Archived from the original on August 12, 2017. Retrieved March 29, 2010.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference business-standard12 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Kodak-B-012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ J. de la Merced, Michael (January 19, 2012). "Eastman Kodak Files for Bankruptcy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 13, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2012.
  17. ^ Daneman, Matthew (September 3, 2013). "Kodak bankruptcy officially ends". USA Today. Archived from the original on October 31, 2020. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  18. ^ "Kodak emerges from bankruptcy with focus on commercial printing". Reuters. September 3, 2013. Archived from the original on March 10, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2013.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gorbman-2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Gorbman, Randy (October 14, 2022). "Eastman Kodak is trying to fill jobs...for film manufacturing". WXXI. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  21. ^ "Multiple factors conspire against film". Inside Imaging. April 26, 2022. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2023.
  22. ^ Cade, DL (January 23, 2013). "Kodak Brand License Holder JK Imaging Shrouded in Mystery". Petapixel. Archived from the original on January 20, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2023.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference Rampton-2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).