It’s official: Kodak exits bankruptcy, leaving consumer photography products behind
posted Tuesday, September 3, 2013 at 5:51 PM EDT
Kodak announced today it has officially moved out of Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings after completing a major restructuring. As we reported last month, the company will no longer produce any consumer products, instead concentrating on "commercial printing, packaging, functional printing and professional services."
Kodak's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Antonio Perez said today that the company is now on a path towards "profitable growth."
"We have been revitalized by our transformation and restructured to become a formidable competitor – leaner, with a strong capital structure, a healthy balance sheet, and the industry's best technology," Perez said in a statement.
Kodak, which once dominated photography market with its film and camera products, filed for bankruptcy in early 2012 and has emerged as a shadow of its former self, with a far more limited imaging focus. The company has essentially exited the consumer space altogether. It no longer makes digital cameras, camcorders, or photo frames, and is no longer producing new consumer inkjet printers either, although a few models can still be found at retail. Kodak has also sold its online photo sharing/photofinishing business.
Kodak also shed its image sensor business, and sold its document imaging and personalized imaging businesses to its own United Kingdom-based pension plan. The company also had to sell a big chunk of its patent portfolio, while receiving barely a quarter of what it once expected for the intellectual property.
These cutbacks, as Draconian as they may seem, have helped the stripped-down company stay afloat in an increasingly competitive imaging market, while compensating creditors.
"We have the right technology at the right time as printing markets increasingly transition to digital," Perez said. "Our broad portfolio of offset, hybrid and digital solutions enables customers to make the transition at their chosen pace using our breakthrough technology solutions."