The Fate of Photographic Film: Can Kodak Learn Lessons from Polaroid?
By emeadows
December 5, 2012
December 5, 2012
- According to The Washington Post, “few fields have experienced upheaval in the digital age as dramatic as the shake-up in photography.” Kodak and Polaroid, for example, two companies once atop the U.S. photographic film market, have both recently faced bankruptcy.
- “At its peak in the late 1990s, Kodak sold about a billion rolls of film in the United States each year. Last year, it sold roughly 20 million. That’s a 98 percent drop in its core business over barely more than a decade,” notes the article.
- Kodak filed for bankruptcy earlier this year and after nearly 125 years, it will most likely stop selling photographic film, putting its analog film division up for sale.
- This sort of downfall already happened to Polaroid. It filed for bankruptcy in both 2001 and 2008. Whoever comes along to buy Kodak’s film business could learn from Polaroid’s fall.
- The article suggests Kodak needs to be unafraid of raising prices, because even amidst a dwindling market, one still does exist for reasons of aesthetics over economy. It also needs to focus on the changing landscape of camera hardware and the intersection of the smartphone and midlevel camera.
- Finally, Kodak must remain innovative and original, in as many ways as possible. Because while brand loyalty is working in its favor, it is not enough to keep it alive without those other factors.
- For fans of Kodak film “and nearly everyone who cares about the photographic arts,” the hope is “that someone generous and deep-pocketed” will come along to pick up this iconic piece of Kodak.
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