The once dominant and worldwide photography firm Kodak hopes to sell most of its consumer and document imaging businesses that made it so famous many years ago. The company is desperately trying to emerge from bankruptcy and needs to raise as much as $700million in order to pay off its creditors.
Kodak hoped that its patent sale would cover the figure however this has not materialised which has led to it sacrificing the consumer part of its business. This will be a sad thing to see but is all too common in the declining consumer printing industry. The emergence of social networks such as Facebook has led to more and more people sharing their photos online rather than utilising firms such as Kodak to print them off.
These sales would mean big changes for Kodak with much less focus on consumer and retail and more attention to commercial printing. Kodak believes the commercial printing industry is strong and by investing more in this area they can emerge from bankruptcy.
Chief Executive Antonio Perez will not reveal the value of the businesses to be sold however it is expected to be a sizeable amount and would almost certainly save the struggling firm from liquidation.
Article by Larry Osburn of www.cheapcolorcopies.org and www.colorlabelprinter.org
Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net