For most in the industry, a “Kodak moment” isn’t when you snapped a family with your box Brownie, but when the US giant faced the crossroads of digital photography… and still managed to get lost with the right turning.

Now there’s another decision to take, as Eastman Kodak continues to confront the reality of doing business in the digital age. In an earnings report this week, it said liquidity problems “raised substantial doubt” about it ability to continue as a going concern.

There are plans to deal with the issue, including ceasing payments for its retirement pension plan, but that didn’t reassure shareholders, with the stock promptly dropping a quarter of its value. And new tariffs are not seen as a major issue, given that many of its products are made in the US.

But still a sorry episode in the history of a company that dates to 1879 when George Eastman was granted a patent for a plate-coating machine.

Fast-forward to 1975, when it introduced the first digital camera, and the 1980s, when it briefly owned CMS developer Atex… but also to 2012, when it filed for Chapter 11 protection with debts of US$6.75 billion (A$10.39 billion). To the COVID-19 year of 2020, when it was tapped to make pharmaceutical ingredients… to today’s cash shortage.

Meanwhile newspapers are still printed using Kodak plates imaged using Kodak technology, but you don’t need to be told that this market – nor that of inkjet web printing, in which it is a significant player – will not be enough to sustain it.

The episode brings to mind an episode in the history of Belgian-German former photographic rival Agfa, which had morphed from its 1867 origins as a dye manufacturer.

Approaching two decades ago, I was among trade press editors flown, ostensibly, to visit an olive oil can printer in Alicante in Spain, only to find that for a disproportionate amount of time, we were being quizzed on our views on the inkjet printing market. Since then, Agfa’s by then plate-focussed print business has been spun off into what is now ECO3, while the parent has evolved into a major player in large-format inkjet markets in display and decor.

We wish Kodak success in finding a route out of its current difficulties, and also look forward to seeing the potential of its inkjet web technologies being realised.

Peter Coleman