Kodak abandons sensor business...

<p>http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204190704577024464175394328.html</p>

<p>Kodak has sold their sensor business to Platinum Equity. Their current plan is to rally around their most profitable division, inkjet printers.</p>

<p>My best guess, if they could actually find a buyer for the film and chemical business, they'd shed that, too.</p>

<p>I hate to say it, but I don't think kodak is very long for this world.</p>

<p>Where will Leica find a *source* for their digital camera sensors? Selling the sensor business is one thing, but the sensor-making engineers are tough to sell off, right?</p>

<p>They can still make sensors, as they retain licenses to all their technology. I'm glad to see it, as it has been consistently losing money. Their film business is still profitable and has been carrying the company for years, while being milked to support their digital tech. development. This way film profits can keep the company afloat as long as film is viable, which will likely be a while yet.</p>

<p>I just wish that the film side to this business survives for a while.</p>

<p> I wish them luck. I hope they keep BN400BW film in production. It's my favorite Kodak film.</p>

<p>Jerry, followup reports indicate that Platinum Equity retained all of the approximately 200 people in Kodak Imaging, including the sensor design engineer.</p>

<p>Jeff, you should read their annual reports. It's the inkjet printers and ink operation that's keeping the money losing film business afloat. The film business hasn't been "milked" for anything. It's quite the other way around.</p>

<p>Kodak's research in sensors goes back probably 1/2 century. Kodak had a digital storage skunk works lab in San Diego in the 1970's and 1980's that worked on sensors. Kodak presented many papers at SPIE conferences on sensors, back before Apple even shipped its first computer. In sensors Kodak had their sensor in their late 1980's commercial 35mm slide scanner. I mention all this so some might know that sensors are an old Kodak idea and product.<br>

The tale of Kodak someday making money in digital photography is several decades old and many CEO's old. The tale is like a dis-functional couple. ie one is thrifty film and the other is a spender ie digital. Each new CEO funnels money from the film portion to support a drunk lossy digital part.<br>

If one has owned or followed Kodak stock the tale of Kodak someday breaking even in digital is very tired and real old. Kodak had digital cameras 20 years ago, they are NOT a newcomer to digital at all.<br>

The current trend by younger folks is to not print at all,<br>

An entire generation has never used film and never will.<br>

The old farts at Kodak ignored the changing market and grew stupid and thus are "selling off the crown jewels to pay the light bill"-WSJ<br>

Die hard film photographers think it is no big deal that Kodak sells no film to Walmart, the largest retailer in the USA.<br>

Sadly the folks I know who have bought Kodak inkjet printers recently have had many problems with them.</p>

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<p>A lot like when they were going to show high profits with their Gold CD's at $10 each and discovered most would not pay more than about $3 or so for them.<br>

They sell off sections that show a profit but not a high enough profit. That is why they got rid of their photo paper division completely. Didn't lose money, just didn't make enough to satisfy the bean counters.<br>

Looks like a safe investment strategy would be to look at what Kodak does and buy what they don't want as someone else will make it pay well.</p>