NWA-PCUG Newsletter Article, July 2004
Whither the Yellow Box?
by Moe Norris, Topeka PC Users Club, Kansas


Eastman Kodak Company, an icon in the photographic industry for more than 100 years, dropped a bombshell last September when it announced that the company would shift its focus from film and film-based products to digital equipment and processes! And it has resolutely continued down that path. In January 2004 the company announced that by the end of this year it would no longer be selling re-loadable film based 35mm cameras, including APS models, in the U.S., Canada, and Western Europe. The “throw away” (i.e., one-time use) cameras will be the only Kodak film camera available in the west. The number of different films provided to retailers will be reduced, concentrating on just the most popular lines. Production of its Carousel film projectors was scheduled to cease the end of 2003.

Kodak said that it plans to continue providing 35mm cameras in emerging markets, such as China, India, Eastern Europe and Latin America, and will introduce six new film cameras in those markets this year. It predicts rapidly growing markets for cameras and film in those countries, in contrast to what is being seen in the west where the demand for film-related products is shrinking much more rapidly than anticipated, while purchases of digital cameras continue to grow dramatically. Kodak’s array of digital cameras now extends from point and shoot consumer models to high-end professional (read very expensive) digital cameras and camera backs. It will increase its production of inkjet printing papers, and plans to introduce a new line of consumer ink jet printer models to go head-to-head with the well-established offerings from HP, Epson, Lexmark, etc.

Kodak’s landmark shift in focus represents a profound change for the world’s largest filmmaker, and a huge gamble. The success of the move remains uncertain. Just when Kodak needs increasing film revenues to underwrite the costs (in the billions) of this transition, film sales are dropping substantially. Since 1997 Kodak has reduced its workforce by more than 30,000 jobs. Another 15,000 jobs will be eliminated in the next two years in a further effort to reduce costs. Success is not a given. If fortune does not smile on Kodak, then not only may the Yellow Box disappear, but the company itself may go down the same path—and it won’t be a Yellow Brick Road!

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given the author. The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an international organization of which this group is a member, brings this article to you.

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