Michelle Peeters

The Rise and Fall of Camera Giant Kodak

Sunday 17 June 2018, 14:41 by | 5,916 views | 3 comments

This article was translated from Dutch with the help of AI. Read the original.

Kodak was once the market leader in photography. But after a century of dominance, Kodak's business collapsed and it was forced to file for bankruptcy in 2012.

If you want to know more about what happened to the iconic brand, watch the 12-minute video below from the popular Company Man YouTube channel.


The name Kodak was once synonymous with cameras and film, writes Company Man. They were innovators and industry leaders for 100 years. Yet a few years ago, they suffered such a decline that they were declared bankrupt. This video explores Kodak's downfall and tries to explain what happened to them.

After being founded by George Eastman in 1888 with his invented name, Eastman was a big fan of the letter k, Kodak became so dominant in photography that in 1976 they sold 85% of all film cameras and 90% of all film in the United States.

That was one year after a Kodak engineer had invented the first digital camera. Unfortunately, Kodak managers were convinced that “nobody would ever want to look at their photos on a television”.

Perhaps we can change the way we see Kodak, says Company Man. Of course, they made a number of mistakes and these days they are just a shadow of what they used to be.

But they did well. They revolutionised an industry and led it for a hundred years. They did great things for photography and perhaps it was simply their time to go. What they did best was no longer needed.

Source: PetaPixel

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Michelle Peeters

About the author

Michelle Peeters is fotografe en oprichter van DeuxBleus Fotografie. Michelle herkent het bijzondere in het gewone en het gewone in het bijzondere. Ze heeft zich nooit willen specialiseren en is daardoor van alle markten thuis.

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3 comments

  1. Wim Hendriks
    Wim Hendriks wrote on Tuesday 19 June 2018 at 10:22  | reply

    But she still remains in our imagination..special plug-in.
    that you can enter via your program.

    Translated from Dutch.
  2. martin Volmeijer
    martin Volmeijer wrote on Tuesday 19 June 2018 at 14:41  | reply

    Yes KODAK they misjudged certain things, this company indeed went bankrupt as well, but they are getting back on their feet again, not so much in the Netherlands
    but elsewhere there is still demand for it .
    and certainly when it comes to photographic film rolls for professionals and amateurs
    am myself a former KODAK employee

    Translated from Dutch.
  3. Wim Hendriks
    Wim Hendriks wrote on Tuesday 19 June 2018 at 19:34  | reply

    I had heard something in the corridors of the AV festival in Amsterdam,and this is the result..Films made with real film
    For more than 100 years Kodak has helped bring artists'and filmmakers' visions to life. Here is just a small sample of projects that chose to shoot on film.https://reelfilm.kodak.com/shot_on_film/

    Translated from Dutch.

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