Eastman Kodak
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Eastman Kodak Company | |
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| Type | Public NYSE: EK |
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| Founded | 1892 |
| Headquarters | Rochester, New York, USA |
| Key people | Antonio M. Perez, Chairman & CEO Frank S. Sklarsky, EVP & CFO George Eastman, Founder |
| Industry | Photographic & Optical Equipment/Supplies Manufacturers |
| Revenue |  $13.274 Billion USD (2006) |
| Net income |  $601 Million USD (2006) |
| Employees | 51,100 (2005) |
| Website | www.kodak.com |
Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE: EK) is an American multinational public company producing photographic materials and equipment. Long known for its wide range of photographic film products, Kodak has focused in recent years on three main businesses: digital photography, health imaging, and printing.
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[edit] Origins
Eastman Kodak's origins rest with Eastman Dry Plate Company, founded by inventor George Eastman and businessman Henry Strong in 1881. The Eastman Dry Plate Company was responsible for the first cameras suitable for nonexpert use. The Kodak company attained its name from the first simple roll film cameras produced by Eastman Dry Plate Company, known as the "Kodak" in its product line, this in turn got its name from George Eastman who registered the trademark Kodak on September 4, 1888. The letter "K" had been a favorite of Eastman's, he is quoted in saying, "it seems a strong, incisive sort of letter".
He and his mother devised the name Kodak with an anagram set. He said that there were three principal concepts he used in creating the name : it must be short, you can not mispronounce it, and it could not resemble anything or be associated with anything but Kodak.
[edit] Cameras
The Kodak company remains the largest supplier of films in the world, both for the amateur and professional markets. It has also diversified into various other imaging-related industries (such as medical imaging), and continues to work at gaining a stronger foothold in the fields of digital photography and imagery. The camera proved such an enormous success that the word Kodak was incorporated into the company name.
After losing a patent battle with Polaroid, Kodak left the instant camera business on January 9, 1986.
Many of Kodak's earlier digital cameras were designed and built by Chinon Industries Chinon, a Japanese camera manufacturer. In 2004, Kodak Japan acquired Chinon and many of their engineers and designers joined Kodak Japan. In July, 2006, Kodak announced that Flextronics would manufacture and help design their digital cameras.
As part of its move toward higher end products, Kodak announced in September 15, 2006 that the new Leica M8 camera from Germany manufacturer will incorporate Kodak's KAF-10500 image sensor. This is the second recent partnership between the two companies.
[edit] Departure from film cameras
On January 13, 2004, Kodak announced it would stop producing traditional film cameras in the United States, Canada and Western Europe. By the end of 2004, Kodak ceased manufacturing cameras that used the Advanced Photo System . Production of film continued. These changes reflect Kodak's new focus on growth in digital markets.
In an effort to reduce costs, Kodak accompanied its shift toward digital products with a series of layoffs and facility closures, cutting 12,000-15,000 jobs around the world, a 20-25 percent reduction in its workforce. Kodak owns the Visual Effects Film Post Production Facilities "Cinesite" in L.A. and London as well as LaserPacific, a post-production facility in Hollywood. Kodak also owns Pro-Tek Media Preservation Services in Burbank, CA. Pro-Tek is the world's premier film storage vault.
[edit] Better Business Bureau expulsion proceedings
On 26 March 2007, the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) announced that Eastman Kodak had advised it that the company was resigning its national membership in the wake of expulsion proceedings initiated by the CBBB Board of Directors.[1] In 2006, Kodak had notified the BBB of Upstate New York that it would no longer accept or respond to consumer complaints submitted by them. In prior years, Kodak had responded by offering consumers an adjustment or an explanation of the company’s position. The BBB file contains consumer complaints of problems with repairs of Kodak digital cameras, as well as difficulty communicating with Kodak customer service. Among other complaints, consumers say that their cameras broke and they were charged for repairs when the failure was not the result of any damage or abuse. Some say their cameras failed again after being repaired.
Kodak said its customer service and customer privacy teams concluded that 99 percent of all complaints forwarded by the BBB already had been handled directly with the customer. Brian O’Connor, Kodak chief privacy officer, said the company was surprised by the news release distributed by the Better Business Bureau:
"It is inaccurate in the facts presented as well as those the BBB chose to omit. Ironically, we ultimately decided to resign our membership because we were extremely unhappy with the customer service we received from the local office of the BBB. After years of unproductive discussions with the local office regarding their Web site postings about Kodak, which in our view were consistently inaccurate, we came to the conclusion that their process added no value to our own. Our commitment to our customers is unwavering. That will not change. What has changed is that, for us, the BBB’s customer complaint process has become redundant, given the multiple and immediate ways that customers have to address their concerns directly with Kodak." --Rochester Business Journal, March 26, 2007
[edit] Today
The company is headquartered in Rochester, New York. The Kodak company holds a vital role in the invention and development of the motion picture industry. Thomas Edison used film stock manufactured by Eastman Kodak during his development of the Many modern Cinema and TV productions (US and worldwide) are shot on Kodak film stocks, including all Academy Awards|Oscar-winning pictures. The company helped set the standard of 35mm film, and introduced the 16mm film format for amateur use and lower budget productions. The home market-oriented 8mm and Super 8 formats were also developed by Kodak. Kodak also entered the Professional Video Tape market, briefly in the mid 1980's, under the product portfolio name of Eastman Professional Video Tape Products. In 1990, Kodak launched a Worldwide Student Program working with university faculty throughout the world to help nurture the future generation of filmmakers. Kodak formed Educational Advisory Councils in the US, Europe and Asia made up of Deans and Chairs of some of the most prestigious film schools throughout the world to help guide the development of their program. It has been called one of the most farsighted programs of its kind by an industry leader.
