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from the the-times-they-are-a-changing dept.
In defense of Kodak and its 'failure' to innovate:
Kodak has been the ultimate bogeyman of MBA programs. You've heard the story. The company held an unassailable position in one the world's largest markets. It had a deep, lasting brand with consumers and professionals along with a high-margin recurring revenue stream.
But it failed to fully understand the impact of emerging technologies. It couldn't get its 100+ year-old self to pivot in time. It didn't cross the chasm and cannonballed deep into the abyss.
You could build a small mountain out of the airport books that regurgitate this horror story.
It's also not exactly true. With established companies facing competition and upstarts claiming to have the upper hand through disruption, now is a good time to re-examine the myth:
- Kodak faced a transition few, if any, companies could have made
- But it could have been a brand!
- But it didn't invest in innovation!
- But now there's nothing left!
[Note - This story comes from TheNextWeb's Podium section which is described as "Opinion, advice, and analysis by the TNW community". -- Ed.]
(Score: 3, Informative) by All Your Lawn Are Belong To Us on Monday November 25 2019, @02:54PM (2 children)
Not legible? ooookay.
Their points were:
1) Kodak did innovate, but was not set up to build digital hardware itself.
2) It struck licensing deals for its name, but failed to get market capture with that.
3) They tried more innovation in hardware (OLED) [and as you noted PhotoCD] but again couldn't put it into production cheaply enough themselves [or gain a proprietary format advantage that paid off].
4) Kodak isn't dead. It divested it's chemical arm [and it's radiology imaging division to Carestream - something the article doesn't mention. Also Kodak still sits on $1.5 billion in assets, revenue of $1.3 billion, net income of $16 million, and $170 million of equity. Far from a dead company].
This sig for rent.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @01:45AM (1 child)
Revenue of $1.3 BILLION and a net income of only $16 MILLION???
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 26 2019, @06:17AM
According to their financial data below on page 45, they had a total loss of 16 million dollars on 1.3 billion in revenue (181 million gross profit). As pointed out in a different part, they had about 150 million dollars worth of expenses this year that they didn't have previous years for complicated reasons.
https://secfilings.nasdaq.com/filingFrameset.asp?FilingID=13335299&RcvdDate=4/1/2019&CoName=EASTMAN%20KODAK%20CO&FormType=10-K&View=html [nasdaq.com]