Iconic digital camera model Kodak faces closure after 133 years

In the previous 24 hours, Eastman Kodak has been prominently featured in monetary information following the discharge of its second-quarter 2025 outcomes and a subsequent regulatory submitting that has raised important issues about its monetary stability.

The 133-year outdated firm reported a internet loss for the quarter and, extra critically, issued a “going concern” warning, indicating that there’s substantial doubt about its capability to satisfy its debt obligations (estimated at US$500 million) over the following 12 months.

This information prompted a pointy decline in Kodak’s inventory worth.

A titan of trade

The historical past of Kodak movie is synonymous with the democratisation of images itself.

Founded by George Eastman in 1888, the Eastman Kodak Company revolutionised the artwork type with the introduction of versatile roll movie and the user-friendly Kodak No. 1 camera.

This innovation liberated photographers from cumbersome glass plates and poisonous chemical substances, making images accessible to the plenty underneath the well-known slogan, “You press the button, we do the rest.”

The launch of the inexpensive Brownie camera in 1900 for only one greenback additional cemented Kodak’s place in households, permitting on a regular basis moments to be captured and preserved.

Throughout the twentieth century, Kodak continued to innovate, introducing among the most iconic movie shares in historical past.

Kodachrome, launched in 1935, grew to become legendary for its vibrant color rendition and archival stability, whereas Ektachrome, launched within the Nineteen Forties, supplied a extra easy growth course of, making color images much more widespread.

These merchandise, together with an enormous portfolio of movement image movie shares, solidified Kodak’s dominance within the trade for many years.

Storm clouds on the horizon

Despite its long-standing success, Kodak’s movie empire confronted an existential menace with the daybreak of the digital age within the late twentieth and early twenty first centuries.

Ironically, Kodak invented the primary digital digital camera in 1975 however failed to completely embrace the know-how, fearing it might cannibalise its extremely worthwhile movie enterprise.

As rivals pivoted away from movie and aggressively pursued the digital market, Kodak’s reliance on conventional movie led to a steep decline in gross sales and market share.

The firm, as soon as a titan of trade, filed for chapter in 2012, a transfer that symbolised the tip of an period for a lot of.

However, the story of Kodak movie didn’t finish there. In a stunning flip of occasions, the 2010s and past have witnessed a major resurgence within the reputation of analog images.

A brand new era of photographers, together with seasoned veterans, has rediscovered the distinctive aesthetic and deliberate strategy of taking pictures with movie.

This renewed curiosity has prompted Kodak, now restructured, to ramp up manufacturing of its beloved movie shares, together with the skilled Portra line and the basic Tri-X black and white movie, guaranteeing that the wealthy legacy of Kodak movie continues for a brand new era of image-makers.

The finish is nigh?

So, why might Kodak be set to shut after 133 years of enterprise?

The core of the difficulty lies in a major quantity of debt maturing ($US500 million) throughout the subsequent 12 months, for which Kodak at present lacks dedicated financing.

In response to this problem, the corporate has expressed confidence in its capability to handle the state of affairs.

Kodak’s administration has pointed to a plan to terminate its U.S. pension plan, which is predicted to unencumber a considerable amount of money to pay down a good portion of the debt.

So how will they create in additional income? Kodak not solely produces movie associated merchandise – they’ve just lately tried to diversify and have practically accomplished constructing a brand new manufacturing plant that may create pharmaceutical merchandise. And prescription drugs within the US is large enterprise because the revenue margins could be big.

The firm can also be actively exploring choices to refinance or prolong its remaining obligations.

Despite the regarding warning, Kodak’s management maintains that this can be a required disclosure attributable to accounting guidelines and that they’re assured of their technique to shore up the corporate’s monetary basis.

You can learn extra concerning the Kodak firm on their website.