Kodak (Getty Images)
Eastman Kodak, the photography pioneer that introduced its $1 Brownie Camera more than a century ago, filed for Bankruptcy Court protection from creditors early today after consumers worldwide over the past two decades transitioned from film to digital technology.
The Rochester, NY-based company, which traces its roots to 1880, listed assets of $5.1 billion and debt of $6.8 billion in Chapter 11 documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan.
“They were a company stuck in time,” said Robert Burley, an associate professor at Toronto’s Ryerson University. “Their history was so important to them, this rich, century-old history when they made a lot of amazing things and a lot of money along the way. Now their history has become a liability.”
The company’s credit deteriorated as revenue tumbled from traditional film, and the inventor of the Instaîîmatic cameras was slow during the past decade to compete with rivals Canon and Hewlett-Packard in digital cameras and printers.
Moody’s Investors Service on Jan. 5 cut ratings on about $1 billion of Kodak debt with a negative outlook, and cited “a heightened probability of a bankruptcy over the near-term” as liquidity deteriorated.
“Kodak is taking a significant step toward enabling our enterprise to complete its transformation,” said Chief Executive Officer Antonio M. Perez.
Kodak’s revenue has fallen by half since 2005 to $7.2 billion last year.
Kodak was five years too late to accelerate its shift to the Digital Age, Perez, 65, said in an interview last August.
