Kodak Selling The Print-Film Business That Made It Famous

"Nothing lasts forever," as the saying goes, and the time has come to wave goodbye to a staple of the photography industry. Eastman Kodak has announced intentions to sell off the film business that made it an icon around the world. In an effort to raise cash for itself (and perhaps fund ongoing digital patent battles), its traditional print-film business and "several others" will be sold. Those others include things like kiosks that develop photos on-site, heavy-duty commercial scanners, and software used for enterprise companies to process thousands of forms at once. Heck, it's even selling off the business that takes those theme park photos as you waltz in.


Kodak says that the selling will help the company shift focus to commercial businesses like printers. The company hopes to complete these during the earlier part of 2013, when it hopefully emerges from Chapter 11 protection. If it all goes down as planned, Kodak will no longer operate the businesses that made it famous, and we'll have to learn to know a new Kodak. Hard to say how the Kodak of the future will impact the consumer electronics universe, but hopefully we'll find out sooner rather than later.