WhereIsAtlas · Photography

Eastman Kodak

The company that invented the digital camera — then couldn't survive it

Transformed — Bankrupt in 2012; emerged in 2013 as a much smaller printing and materials company.

George Eastman's 1888 company gave the world the Kodak camera, the Brownie, Kodachrome film and the phrase 'Kodak moment'. By the 1970s Kodak sold nearly 90 percent of American film and employed over 100,000 people in Rochester — film and the prints it demanded were a consumables empire.

The cruel irony: a Kodak engineer, Steven Sasson, built the first digital camera prototype in 1975. Management buried it rather than cannibalise film profits, and by the time Kodak pivoted the market had moved to rivals. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2012.

Kodak emerged in September 2013, a fraction of its former size, focused on commercial printing, packaging, film for motion pictures and advanced materials — including a surprise turn as a pharmaceutical-ingredients supplier. A small company still trades under the historic name.

Timeline

  1. 1888 — 'You press the button…': The first Kodak camera ships with the slogan 'You press the button, we do the rest.' (Rochester, NY)
  2. 1900 — The Brownie: A $1 camera puts photography in children's hands and creates a mass market.
  3. 1935 — Kodachrome: The first commercially successful colour film defines how a century remembers itself.
  4. 1975 — A digital camera — shelved: Steven Sasson builds the first digital camera at Kodak; executives fear it will kill film.
  5. 2004 — Exit from film cameras: Kodak stops selling film cameras in developed markets as digital takes over.
  6. Jan 2012 — Chapter 11: Kodak files for bankruptcy, weighed down by pensions and a vanished core market.
  7. Sep 2013 — Emergence: A slimmed Kodak exits bankruptcy focused on printing, packaging and specialty materials.

Quick facts

Founded
1888, Rochester, NY
Founder
George Eastman
Peak employment
> 140,000 (1988)
Digital prototype
1975 (Steven Sasson)
Bankruptcy
Jan 2012 – Sep 2013
Today
Printing, packaging, pharma materials

Lineage — where the name went

Kodak is the classic story of a company that invented its own replacement and then shelved it. Note how the name split in 2013: the film and photo business went one way, the commercial-printing company kept the Kodak name.

  1. 1888 — George Eastman founded Eastman Kodak
  2. 1900 — Eastman Kodak created Brownie
  3. 1935 — Eastman Kodak created Kodachrome
  4. 1975 — Steven Sasson created First digital camera (invented inside Kodak, then shelved)
  5. 2013 — Eastman Kodak spun off Kodak Alaris (the film and photo business separated after bankruptcy)

Entities in this tree: George Eastman (person, 1888); Eastman Kodak (company, 1888); Brownie (product, 1900); Kodachrome (product, 1935); Steven Sasson (person, 1975); First digital camera (product, 1975); Kodak Alaris (company, 2013)

Sources

  1. Wikipedia: Kodak — Wikipedia (2026-01-10)
  2. Kodak files for bankruptcy — BBC News (2025-12-22)
  3. The man who invented the digital camera — BBC Future (2025-12-22)

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