The Rise and Fall of Eastman Kodak: Looking Through Kodachrome Colored Glasses

ABSTRACT:Eastman Kodak is a truly iconic American brand. Established at the end of the nineteenth century,Kodak revolutionized the photography industry by letting every consumer have the ability to develop their ownpersonal pictures at a low cost. However, Kodak stubbornly continued to embrace film photography long afterconsumers had shifted to digital based photography. In 2012, Kodak was forced to declare Chapter 11bankruptcy due to its inability to generate positive cash flows in an industry which had moved beyond filmphotography.In an attempt to reverse its declining financial performance, Kodak introduced products such as the revisedSuper 8 camera, a smart phone, cryptocurrency, bitcoin mining and the development of chemicals for genericdrugs. All of these new product introductions have failed or have been suspended. In addition, there arequestions as to whether the real motive of these “new” product innovations was to be used to aid in the financialrecovery of Kodak or were these actions based on manipulating Kodak‟s stock price for the personal gain of itsexecutives. This article concludes by asking the question whether or not it is now time for Kodak to permanentlyclose down its operations.

Keywords:Eastman Kodak, Film Photography, Digital Photography, Innovation, Stock Manipulation