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.

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

Sources

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