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Camera, A Book Review and a Look at EK

Sunday March 28 2010

Camera,
Gustavson, Todd,ISBN 978 1 4027 5656 6,2009

This
is a ‘coffee table book’ large, heavy, and replete with interesting photographs
of people and the cameras that took the photos.  Gustavson is the curator of the Eastman Camera collection.
Naturally the book had the ‘kodak’ point of view.   A few observations from reading the book

 

·     
As always, breakthrough inventions seem to be the work of one or two
people, even today, as Steven Sasson at Kodak saw the future of electronic
imaging, Kodak makes such sensors now

·     
Once Gladwell’s Tipping Point is reached a new technology takes off,
Brady opened his studio in NYC in 1844, Lincoln partially credited his Brady
photograph for making him President

·     
Cameras of the 1800s reflected the craftsmanship rather than mass
manufacturing of that day with gorgeous walnut bodies and brass encased lenses

·     
The French were active in science and manufacturing until 1900,
apparently WW I and the socialist state mindset only allows for cheese, wine
and fashion, forget cameras (okay Bugatti had  a fling in the 1930s with cars)

·     
Eastman Kodak saw the virtue of mass marketing in 1900, and that the
money was in the software, the film, not the camera

·     
The name Brownie did not come from Brownell who made the cameras for
Eastman but popular characters from a children’s book by Palmer Cox,, nothing
new about Buzz Lightyear eh?

·     
Kodak was still making a serious camera after WW II but the book
glosses over the fact that Kodak exited serious cameras for the far more
lucrative venture of processing the film for all camera makers

·    Picture 2   
The book makes no mention of the financial difficulty EK has had moving
to digital imaging.  While there
are Kodak machines seemingly everywhere, the stock has not recovered trading at
$6, the firm has negative equity and is not producing cash flow. Hmm, it will
be ironic if the firm that got America taking pictures and that first made
electronic sensors goes bankrupt but it certainly looks that way. 

  We will shortly be studying earnings per share and cash flow. Go to finance.yahoo.com and look a at the income and cash flow statements for EK. Now look at the equity sections over the last few years of the balance sheets. The deterioration is evident, as seen in the stock price. EK is not producing income, not producing cash flow, and the OE of A = L + OE is now negative. This will not last, apparently the slowdown in the economy has affected the number of photos processed at EK booths across the country. 

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13 responses to “Camera, A Book Review and a Look at EK”

  1. Krystal Lewis Avatar
    Krystal Lewis

    The financials of EK are shocking. I didn’t know Kodak was struggling financially. EK has been spending way more than they make. Their assets are decreasing and the total balance of liabilities was greater than the total assets at the end of 09. I was honestly amazed when I reviewed their financials. When will they cut their losses and call it quits. It’s sad but all good things must come to an end. Someone with money will buy it and carry on it’s legacy. Hopefully

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  2. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    Well done Krystal, this is the sort of thinking I want to stiumulate

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  3. Joy Avatar
    Joy

    I would think some large corporation would want to purchase EK if only for its long standing trademark. and brand recognition. With the way the balance is looking it won’t be long before they are either bankrupt or sold.

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  4. Tammy Salinas Avatar
    Tammy Salinas

    What could cause Kodak’s assets to decrease so much? Are they selling their assets in order to get money back in? Are they that desperate? Unless the reason for their liabilities to be so much higher than their assets in 09 is due to an investment into a new product that could possibly get them out of this rut, then I could see where they are going with this. If not, Im afraid the widely brand name of KODAK will no longer be as reputable as it once was. Honestly, I have seen their digital cameras and have come to a conclusion that Canon has actually surpassed them in effects. Could this be the company to possibly buy them out?

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  5. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    Joy
    Yes that same thought occurred to me, this is one great trademark, just need to get rid of the debt, the digital machines in WAG will surely pay off at some point.

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  6. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    Tammy
    Good questions all, I will bring the fancy coffee table book to class now that you make these good points, and we will be investigating this the next few weeks. Like Polaroid, the cameras they make only exist as a use for the film the real money maker, now in the digital world, the cameras have to compete on their own, the film angle is gone.

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  7. Kristin Hinojosa Avatar
    Kristin Hinojosa

    Kodak has been around for a long time; in almost every business that has film development has a Kodak product. It’s hard to believe that they are going out of business, for example Walgreens. In every Walgreens there is a Kodak department for almost anything you need for your digital or disposable camera. You would not think that they are losing money, but we are on the outside looking in and inside the cash flows show the trouble they are in.

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  8. Franchesca Avatar
    Franchesca

    Kodak has been in business for many years now and has came a long way. Know that ecomony is down and technoloy is up this is why i believe kodak is at a lose. By looking at the cash flow it has has its up and downs on the investments and depreciations. Its so hard for all camera makers becuase the competition is very compeitive out there in new technology being invented. I also believe that Kodak is losing money on the printing part becuase of the easy excess of indiviual printing at home and therefore Kodak loses out unless there is use of there film paper. Kodak can get out of debt if they start inventing more items to help on the film industry.

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  9. Sandra Reyes Avatar
    Sandra Reyes

    George Eastman put the first simple camera into the hands of a world of consumers in 1888. In so doing, he made a cumbersome and complicated process easy to use and accessible to nearly everyone. Since that time, the Eastman Kodak Company has led the way with an abundance of new products and processes to make photography simpler, more useful and more enjoyable. I have recently noticed that many large companies are going into negative. Many people do not use Kodak with all of the competitors we have out there. I for example do not print out my pictures any more I send them via email and I save them on CDs at home. I am sure many people do this now so this may be part of the reason they are losing money.

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  10. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    Sandra has a good point, I have printed out very few photos, and the proliferation of phone displays probably adds to the lack of printing, and so, the bet on photo kiosks is not paying off.

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  11. Aaron Avalos Avatar
    Aaron Avalos

    WOW, its kinda of hard to imagine that a major company like Kodak is not doing so well; they have been around since I was in diapers. However, from apersonal expeirence I can’t remeber the last time I used Kodak, wherther it was a camera or printing pictures. In todays world we have come to live in a more digital world. Mostly everything is wireless now. People are now saving and sharing their photos on their PC’s, labtops, phones, and ipods. I think we find it easier, more conveinent, and cheaper to share our photos that way. So I think this one of the reasons Kodak is not doing so well. Take for example movie rentals, you have million of subsribers to net flix, plus we are starting to see The Red Box which you rental a movie a $1 a day. Its a whole lot affordable than Blockbuster which charge you about $4 almost $5 a movie.

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  12. Dennis Elam Avatar
    Dennis Elam

    Aaron is correct, and we covered several of his points in class, digital, save to disk, use a camera phone, send by e mail, print your own, whoops,
    gee first remington rand then xerox now kodak

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  13. Christy Moyer Avatar
    Christy Moyer

    I think Kodak may need to simplify their business goals a little more if they are looking to make a profit in the near future. Of all the Kodak digital cameras I have seen, I haven’t come across one that I just can’t live without. Most of the Kodak digital cameras are too bulky, not very appealing and cost more in comparison of MP than other brands. One product that I feel has a possiblility of earning them a profit is the digital photo frame, but again, price is a big factor.

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