Troubled photography titan Kodak has confirmed that it will cease the production of digital video and photo cameras, shifting its attention to its printing business instead. By using its most valuable business lines, the company will try to drive sustainable profitability.
In the first half of 2012, Kodak will stop selling and producing all digital picture frames, pocket video cameras and digital cameras and will look to expand its current licensing business, which might as well include a couple of patents that the company attempted to use in the past against Apple and some other technology companies.
Kodak believes it will save the company more than $100 million in annual operating savings, once it has phased those products out. Nonetheless, it also believes that it will suffer a loss of nearly $30 million due to its exit from the digital camera business.
In the U.S. Kodak has already filed for bankruptcy, which came as a huge disappointment for the company which was the first one that introduced crafted sensors and digital photography that is still used in manufacturing millions of digital cameras each year.
Kodak will continue to develop apps for Facebook that enables users to print their uploaded photos, create its low-cost and economical inkjet printers, operate its retail photo kiosks and via Kodak Gallery it will enable users to sign up for free photo storage. Unfortunately it would appear the days of developing custom hardware for video production are now over.
Moreover, it will continue to operate its traditional photographic paper and film capture business, which is going to provide innovative and high-quality solutions and products to professional labs, photofinishers, retailers, photographers and customers.
In recent years, Kodak Company has been affected by the lowering in price of consumer electronics and the rise of smartphone cameras. It remains to be seen if it can reverse its loss in revenues, but a $100 million in operational savings is definitely a step in the right direction.
