Tough times at Kodak

[Boyd Ostroff]

Today they announced another 1,000 job cuts and plant closings. They're currently in the middle of a four year plan to eliminate 25,000 jobs....

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050826/kodak...tion.html?.v=4

Sales of conventional silver-halide film -- Kodak's cash cow for the last century -- look set to drop by 30 percent in the United States this year.

http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mf...gvisit=y&npu=y

I don't think Kodak will ever get it. A brand name, no matter how well known, can't fix everything.

[Mike Teutsch]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Today they announced another 1,000 job cuts and plant closings. They're currently in the middle of a four year plan to eliminate 25,000 jobs....

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050826/kodak...tion.html?.v=4


http://www.fool.com/News/mft/2005/mf...gvisit=y&npu=y

A sad passing, but probably inevitable. They will go the way of the buggy-whip maker, and typewriter manufacturers. They made some inroads in digital cameras, but it may not be enough to regain prominance.

The second article seemed a bid cruel, especially the statement about name holding them up. That comparison would be like computers going out of style and Dell having to try switching to manufacturing diesel trucks. Maybe not exactly, but you know what I mean. The switch from manufacturing film to digital cameras is not easy, especially when so many camera manufacturers simple had to put chips behind their lenses.

Don't think Kodak will go away, but major changes ahead.

Mike

[Boyd Ostroff]

Yeah, maybe a little harsh. But look at Polaroid which was bought by entrepeneur Tom Petters so he could put the name on cheap Chinese DVD players and other stuff. He's also branding Chinese vacuum cleaners under the Sunbeam label. Or how about other household names like Singer, Admiral, Zenith.... or restaurants like Howard Johnson's.... or airlines like TWA.... the list goes on and on. Adapt of perish.

[Mike Teutsch]

Originally Posted by Boyd Ostroff

Yeah, maybe a little harsh. But look at Polaroid which was bought by entrepeneur Tom Petters so he could put the name on cheap Chinese DVD players and other stuff. He's also branding Chinese vacuum cleaners under the Sunbeam label. Or how about other household names like Singer, Admiral, Zenith.... or restaurants like Howard Johnson's.... or airlines like TWA.... the list goes on and on. Adapt of perish.

I got a good one for you. I bought a computer many years ago. It was a Packard Bell. Thought, hum, they have a good reputation in electronics and calculators etc. Turned out that the company had bought the name and had nothing in common with the original company. It was a piece of crap computer and they just made some money and left the scene. A real ripoff

Perhaps if Kodak finishes the downsizing and concentrates more on high film stuff they could continue with class. The digital revolution is here to stay, but film will have its place for some time yet.

Mike

[Greg Boston]

I would hate to see Kodak go away. They make some fine digital cameras. The color registration is spot on and the saturation is very good. You can see examples in my review on the XL-2 Watchdog page. Those pictures were shot with a Kodak digital camera. I still have and use my trusty old DC-265 which is only 1.8 megapixels, but it works very good for smaller print media such as the corporate newsletter I used it on for many years.

People always talk about the 'look' of Sony video cameras and I have to agree that they make a fine video camera. But to me, Kodak is the one with the 'look' in digital still cameras.

JMHO,

-gb-