Kodak’s stock dropped by about 50% on Friday due to speculation that the company might be filling for bankruptcy. The stock has since gone back up to about $1.05 a share, but consiering they have hired a law firm which is well known for dealing with bankruptcy cases, this could be the end of the line for Kodak.
In an effort to become a profitable and sustainable company, Eastman Kodak has sold it’s image sensor business to Platinum Equity. This is the 2nd such deal in recent weeks as Kodak tries to re-define itself as a forward looking company. While they are not out of the woods yet, I’m glad to see this historic company get back up on their feet. More details after the jump.
We`re not able to post every story on our website, so every Sunday, we will list some interesting photography related links.
Kodak has been thrown a life preserver of sorts. Movie screen company Imax has licensed more than 50 patents from Kodak, which would allow them to improve their laser projection technologies. It would also gain them access to more than 10,000 of Kodak’s other patents, as long as they are cinema related. I’m not saying this arrangement is going to bring them back from the grave, but this is probably the best thing to happen to Kodak in quite some time.
Despite having invented digital photography (yes you read that right), Kodak chose not to pursue that new technology because they thought it would eat into their film business. How things have changed over the last few decades. Kodak has now hit an all time low, with the plummeting of their stock price. Henry Blodget and Aaron task talk about the companies history and recent woes in the following video put together by Yahoo!
Kodak has a new waterproof video camera, and it looks pretty sweet. It’s rugged design is waterproof (10 feet for up to 2 hours), dustproof, and dropproof. At the size of a credit card, it’s very portable, yet still capable of 720 HD video. It also has easy sharing, which allows you to show your videos to your friends and family using numerous different social networks. It’s available October 14th at a MSRP of $99.
Kodak borrowed $160 million dollars from their line of credit Monday, sending the stock into a nosedive. By the days end, the stock was down 64 cents (26.89%). While some interpret this as trouble from the ailing company, others are defending the company’s decision, saying it’s business as usual.
Have you ever wondered what photography related websites looked like back when the internet was young? We did, so we put together the following screen captures for you.
The Great Camera Shootout 2011 aims to compare a slew of different single chip video cameras to determine which ones are the best. I am genuinely impressed at the amount of planning and work that went into these tests. If you are at all interested in shooting with video, then the following is a must see.
You may recall a while back we showed the evolution of the Canon logo. Now it’s time to take a look at how the Kodak logo has changed over the years. Which one is your favourite? To be honest, I think I prefer the logos from the 70′s and 80′s.
No, it’s not as bad as it sounds. Kodak is currently trying to sell it’s digital imaging patents. The problem they are faced with is that the value of the patents may exceed the value of the entire company. To stop another company from buying them out, and thereby getting their hands on the patents at a “discount price”, Kodak has adopted a shareholder rights agreement that makes it cost-prohibitive for investors to buy 5 percent or more of the company over the next three years.
The worldwide digital camera market shares by vendor stats are out with Canon, Sony & Nikon taking the top 3 spots. The overall stats have not changed that much from 2009, although Kodak lost 1.4% market share, while Sony and Nikon both gained 1% and 1.5% respectively. Hit the jump to see the stats for the top 11 companies.
The photography related April fools jokes just keep on coming. If you head over to the Kodak Gallery, you will see they are offering Permanent Photo Tattoos. Reasonably priced too if I do say so myself. :)
