Kodak Concedes Difficulty in Drawing Lead Bidder for Patents

Photo Engineer · Aug 13, 2012

kb;

Kodak sold all health care products to a Canadian company. It has since changed its name so I cannot give you the new name. It remains to be seen what (if any) proportion Kodak still makes. In fact, there is a small operation in Oklahoma which is commented on extensively in another thread.

It might be added that since Kodak has sold off almost all digital divisions and is auctioning all patents, about all that remains Kodak is the theater digital projection group, the digital printer group, and the film division. Kodak is reverting slowly but surely to a film company.

PE

BrianShaw · Aug 13, 2012

Sal Santamaura said:
Brian, why the recurring need to perform a Steve Jobs deathbed impression?

Sal, I'd rather PM you the answer to your question; the answer is not very flattering.

Photo Engineer · Aug 13, 2012

Steve Jobs did not say "Oh WOW" he said "Oh, OW". He was in pain:

Kodak did not release the results by noon. The report was that they were waiting for "trumping bids". So, the update will be at 5 or 6 on the local news (if then).

PE

BrianShaw · Aug 13, 2012

I was (am) in pain too.

RattyMouse · Aug 13, 2012

Sal Santamaura said:
The market environment we live in sets a thing's value at what someone is willing to pay for it. That you can't afford it is not the crux. Rather, that you "wish you could flip through it" without buying it is. You've valued it at $0. I made no assumption -- it's an observation. An uncomfortable one, perhaps, but valid.

The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is your staggering lack of intellectual rigor. Believe what you wish.

kuparikettu · Aug 13, 2012

No news today:

But expectations the printing and imaging company would have such a sale all but wrapped up Monday came to an end as Kodak said it was extending the deadline for naming a winning bid.

Company spokesman Christopher Veronda declined to comment on whether that delay was to allow for additional bidding or for some other reason. He also declined to say when Kodak did expect to announce a winning bidder.

Dead Link Removed

Photo Engineer · Aug 13, 2012

The results of the auction have been delayed for an indefinite period by agreement with Kodak and its creditors. Local reports say that this looks bad for Kodak and are saying "the company has been led to the precipice and it may go over the edge.

If the auction fails to bring in sufficient cash, Kodak will be unable to pay its creditors by the time limit, and at that time, the court will step in.

PE

BrianShaw · Aug 13, 2012

Ouch.

PKM-25 · Aug 13, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
The results of the auction have been delayed for an indefinite period by agreement with Kodak and its creditors. Local reports say that this looks bad for Kodak and are saying "the company has been led to the precipice and it may go over the edge.

If the auction fails to bring in sufficient cash, Kodak will be unable to pay its creditors by the time limit, and at that time, the court will step in.

PE

Easy there big fella, that is not exactly how it reads:

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S2725691.shtml?cat=565

For what it is worth, the Rochester Democrat article cites that if the "Bonanza" fails to yeild the moolah to pay off those who loaned EK the stay afloat during C-11 money, all may not be lost as it still has 1.3 billion in cash and equivalents. I guess the only speculation I am interested in now is what does this all look like if they get 250 mil, 500 mil, 750 mil, 1 billion, etc in terms of the big picuture in restructuring.

I just hit the buy button on my Kodak TMY 4x5 for the foreseeable future. With 2,000 sheets of 100 and 400 I am set for a few years so at least I don't have to worry about it going up in price or dissapearing anymore...hope it sticks around though, there really is nothing else like Tmax 400 in 4x5.

RattyMouse · Aug 13, 2012

PKM-25 said:
Easy there big fella, that is not exactly how it reads:

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/S2725691.shtml?cat=565

For what it is worth, the Rochester Democrat article cites that if the "Bonanza" fails to yeild the moolah to pay off those who loaned EK the stay afloat during C-11 money, all may not be lost as it still has 1.3 billion in cash and equivalents. I guess the only speculation I am interested in now is what does this all look like if they get 250 mil, 500 mil, 750 mil, 1 billion, etc in terms of the big picuture in restructuring.

I just hit the buy button on my Kodak TMY 4x5 for the foreseeable future. With 2,000 sheets of 100 and 400 I am set for a few years so at least I don't have to worry about it going up in price or dissapearing anymore...hope it sticks around though, there really is nothing else like Tmax 400 in 4x5.

Yes, but that cash you mention is the ONLY thing keeping Kodak going day-to-day. Without that, they cannot operate and will surely fold. Also, did Kodak get that cash from a loan about 1 year ago? You can't pay back a loan with the loan money. They are supposed to invest that money and return the principle with the earnings of those investments.

The article in the link above has a great quote about Kodak's CEO. He sure did lead the company right to the edge of a cliff and nothing is stopping them from going over.

Photo Engineer · Aug 13, 2012

Dan;

I watched 2 interviews with Mr. Conboy on TV. One at the lead in at about 5:10 and then the major story at 5:35. Both responses were slightly different in tone but said what I did in my post. In fact, he sharply criticized Perez and used the words "over the precipice" in one, but not the other. The interviews in toto were about 5 - 7 minutes of good information. The printed extract was an abridged version of both.

PE

Sal Santamaura · Aug 13, 2012

Sal Santamaura said:
...You have taken my observations and, instead of considering the possibility that they are valid, decided to attack the observer...

RattyMouse said:
The only thing that makes me uncomfortable is your staggering lack of intellectual rigor...

More of the same.

lxdude · Aug 13, 2012

Sal Santamaura said:
The market environment we live in sets a thing's value at what someone is willing to pay for it. That you can't afford it is not the crux. Rather, that you "wish you could flip through it" without buying it is. You've valued it at $0. I made no assumption -- it's an observation. An uncomfortable one, perhaps, but valid.

No matter how much I'd love to have a Lamborghini, no matter how much I admire them and value them, I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one.

I'd sure jump at the chance to drive one, though.

Prof_Pixel · Aug 13, 2012

Take a look at this article by my friend Gary Pageau (formerly with PMA). http://theinfocircle.com/kodak-and-apple-the-irony-of-defeat/

zsas · Aug 13, 2012

One of the few articles that has positive comments, "Perhaps this new, smaller Kodak will be able to thrive, as the demand for sensitized coated materials will continue."

Refreshing!

Wish them the best! Fingers crossed....

RattyMouse · Aug 13, 2012

zsas said:
One of the few articles that has positive comments, "Perhaps this new, smaller Kodak will be able to thrive, as the demand for sensitized coated materials will continue."

Refreshing!

Wish them the best! Fingers crossed....

Positive yes, but with one massive, unforgiving caveat which is contained in this quote: " Questions remain about the competence of Kodak management to pull off the next phase of this turnaround, as there is clearly no Steve Jobs occupying the 19th floor executive suite. Theres no question, however, there are many who are pulling for this once-great company to shine brightly again."

Kodak NEEDS a Steve Jobs. Desperately. I firmly believe (dont shoot me), that Kodak's CEO is just extracting cash out of Kodak as he winds it down. He hasnt made a good decision. AT. ALL. No long term strategy is visible now that anyone can even remotely hope for. Perez's move into Printers has been thrashed here relentlessly.

Imagine what Steve Jobs could have done with Kodak's talent? It boggles the mind.

Photo Engineer · Aug 13, 2012

Kodak's core competency from the start was Chemistry. Remember that all analog photography is based on chemistry and there were Tennessee Eastman and Texas Eastman along with Distillation Products Industry which made a bedrock of Kodak's competency. Each was closed or spun off.

Coating was ancillary to make things possible.

PE

Brian C. Miller · Aug 14, 2012

Steve Jobs didn't step in at the 11th hour and bring Apple out of bankruptcy, with Apple's sales at a miscule percentage of what they once were. Jobs didn't reinvigorate Apple computer products, he expanded Apple into a market which needed improvement. Phones and music players weren't what Apple was known for, but Apple could manufacture them. Apple did not invent anything new, they simply looked at existing markets and products where an improvement would be an amazing jump.

I'm sure that there are Jobs-like people in Kodak. But there is the basic concept of "too little, too late." When the ship has already smacked into the iceberg, a company needs Superman, not a screaming and bullying CEO. Kodak needs to take the blinders off, jettison everything that doesn't turn a profit, and then rebuild. Can Kodak actually profitably compete in printers? For consumer printers, it's been no good for them, but they keep trying to stay in the market, so they keep burning cash.

Where could Kodak go where they can actually make money? As PE has said, they spun or sold off a lot of profitable divisions. So Kodak still has some chemical engineering, and coating. What can be coated? There was a mention in an article about wallpaper. How about coating smart fabrics? Would it be cool to wear a Kodak picture t-shirt? Petapixel.com had an entry about a t-shirt with display and a camera. Couldn't Kodak do better with a luminous, computing line of clothing? How about Kodak photo print decals? Slap a Kodak decal on your stuff and flash your pics.

There was a recent inovation of 100,000 DPI printing. Can Kodak get onto that? But whatever Kodak does, they are going to have to get through Chapter 11, because I doubt they'd ever get through a "Chapter 22" (repeat Chapter 11).

BrianShaw · Aug 14, 2012

lxdude said:
No matter how much I'd love to have a Lamborghini, no matter how much I admire them and value them, I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one.

I'd sure jump at the chance to drive one, though.

I'd settle for an Aston Martian.

Photo Engineer · Aug 14, 2012

Kodak owned O-Led technology that would permit flat screens that could be folded like cloth. A good friend was head of the division working on them. Kodak sold that division to a Korean company.

PE

Prof_Pixel · Aug 14, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
Kodak's core competency from the start was Chemistry. ... Coating was ancillary to make things possible.

Ron, I guess I disagree. George started the company to coat film and the chemical side of the business grew as a result of a desire to control the materials used in making coatings.

Photo Engineer · Aug 14, 2012

Fred;

I was speaking from the POV that George Eastman had to work with chemistry and learn from chemists before he coated. And his early coating equipment was war less sophisticated than his making equipment. He had chemical engineers to design that equipment.

Also, the engineers designed the molecular still to allow production of the very small, complex and unstable chemicals used in photography. This was one of Kodak's great inventions and contributions to chemical production. DPI was organiced around this apparatus.

PE

Prof_Pixel · Aug 14, 2012

Ron,

At this point, there is certainly no denying that the chemical part of the business is more successful than the coating part. Eastman Chemical stock is around $54.00 vs. $0.23 for EK.

lxdude · Aug 14, 2012

Photo Engineer said:
Kodak's core competency from the start was Chemistry. Remember that all analog photography is based on chemistry and there were Tennessee Eastman and Texas Eastman along with Distillation Products Industry which made a bedrock of Kodak's competency. Each was closed or spun off.

Coating was ancillary to make things possible.

PE

But what about now? Kodak no longer owns those. Now, it seems to me that coating is a basic competency, when it comes to producing products. Other basic competencies exist, it appears, such as producing and working with nanometer-scale particles.

I wonder what's left of their R&D. Even if they continued to innovate, without the intent to produce but with the intent to sell the technology, maybe that would be something.

RattyMouse · Aug 14, 2012

lxdude said:
But what about now? Kodak no longer owns those. Now, it seems to me that coating is a basic competency, when it comes to producing products. Other basic competencies exist, it appears, such as producing and working with nanometer-scale particles.

I wonder what's left of their R&D. Even if they continued to innovate, without the intent to produce but with the intent to sell the technology, maybe that would be something.

That's a good question. Does Kodak even operate an R & D lab anymore? Do they still get patents?

Kodak Concedes Difficulty in Drawing Lead Bidder for Patents

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