See, Kodak is being keelhauled by photographers for having done two naughty and unforgiveable things:

1) Announcing that film is dead.
2) Acting as if it were.

Kodak, being an early participant into R&D for digital cameras, didn't get it at first. Despite being on the market early with digital SLR cameras that were snapped up by news media photographers and others who worked to extreme deadlines and were willing to accept the (at the time) serious limitations that DSLRs put on them, Kodak still didn't get it.

They could have had the lion's share of the digital camera market in a walk - but they blew it through incompetence and poor management. Through fossilized thinking that hired the best and brightest, turned them loose to be creative, and then failed to listen to them.

It was nearly too late by the time Kodak woke up. It may still prove to have been too late - but the giant has clearly awoken, shaken off the cobwebs, and Old Yellow is trying very hard to join the rest of the world in the 21st Century.

One thing they got right - once they brought their new CEO onboard, they set sail and began jettisoning dead wood. They took a 1.1 billion dollar write off last quarter, another the quarter before that - they're bleeding red ink, their stock price looks like a vast wasteland.

But they are turning. Slowly.

Two things - Kodak is DONE with film. Get that through your thick skulls, you morons.

Second - Kodak has decided that they can't compete with Canon and Nikon in the digital SLR market, so they've withdrawn from that toyland. They are concentrating on RETAIL digicams, and R&D / Production of the best image sensors in the business, for cameras of any type or size. From the new 33 megapixel Hasselblad medium format cameras to the tiniest cell phone cams, Kodak wants to be in everything. Like the old BASF commercials - they don't want to sell us digital SLRs, they want to be inside of the digital SLRs we buy.

This, they can do. They OWN the retail digicam market in the USA, despite tough competititon from Canon. If they keep getting that right, they can use it as a cash cow to fund their cutting-edge R&D.

However, one thing Kodak has to watch closely - their cost-per-unit is much, much, higher than Canon, et al. They have the Chinese factories where these retail consumer-level digicams are cranked out by the millions, they need to get their costs in line with what the Japanese are paying for the same items. What's up with that, Kodak? Your profit margin on a per-unit basis blows.

Hey, Kodak-haters - you know who you are. You're the guys who cling obsessively to film, and you hate Kodak because they turned their backs on you. Well, if you're American, you might want to consider that Kodak is making inroads - competing directly with the Japanese in an area where Japan has consistantly beaten the pants off of the USA (not without assistance from Japan, Inc., but that's another rant). You might want to consider rooting for the home team once in a awhile, bubba. Yeah, jobs are being lost. Kodak is still a huge employer of AMERICANS. You want that end because you soon won't be able to buy a box of Tri-X? Fool.

Anyway, here's the latest news story. Glad to see it.

Smooches,

Wiggy

http://www.electronicstalk.com/news/est/est108.html

CMOS sensor aims for mass-market handsets

A new 1.3Mpixel CMOS image sensor is targeted at the high-volume camera phone market.
Eastman Kodak Company continues to expand its portfolio of CMOS image sensors for mass-market consumer applications with the release of a new 1.3Mpixel CMOS image sensor targeted at the high-volume camera phone market. The Kodak KAC-01301 image sensor expands Kodak's existing portfolio of CMOS imagers, which provides manufacturers a range of solutions designed specifically for high-volume markets such as digital still cameras and mobile devices. The new product further demonstrates Kodak's commitment to develop next generation, cost effective CMOS image sensor devices that provide the image quality currently available from CCD image sensors, while taking advantage of the power, integration, and cost benefits traditionally associated with CMOS technology.

posted by Unknown at 8:40 AM

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