Case Study Analysis: Eastman Kodak
Background of Eastman Kodak:
Better known as Kodak, they are an American multinational imaging and photographic equipment, materials and services company headquartered in Rochester, New York, United States and started in New Jersey.
Kodak is famous for photographic film products. Throughout the 20th century, Kodak was strong in photographic film, and in 1976 had a 90% market share of photographic film sales in the United States. The company's fame was such that its tagline "Kodak moment" entered the common lexicon to describe a personal moment that should be recorded for eternity.
Causes of its failure in the recent past:
* Kodak’s financial problems began in the late 1990s because the fall in sales of photographic film and company’s delay in moving to digital photography, despite having invented the core technology used in current digital cameras. 2007 was the last when the company made a profit.
* As part of a turnaround strategy, Kodak centred on digital photography and digital printing and tried to generate revenues through furious patent litigation.
* Japanese competitor Fujifilm entered the U.S. market (via Fuji Photo Film U.S.A.) with cheaper priced film and supplies, but Kodak did not believe that American consumers would ever desert its brand. (www.morningstar.com/2013)
* Kodak lost the chance to become the official film makers of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics; Fuji won these sponsorship rights, which gave them a permanent place in the US marketplace. Fuji opened a film plant in the U.S., and its strong marketing and price cutting began taking market share from Kodak. Fuji went from a 10% share in the early 1990s to 17% in 1997. (www.euromonitor, 2013)
* Meanwhile, Kodak made little headway in Japan, the second-largest market for photo film and paper after the United States.
* In May 1995, Kodak filed a petition with the US Commerce Department under section 301 of the Commerce Act...