I'm not sure threads that comment on the film market, that do not support the idea of film comeback, are talking doom and gloom, or that they are from grumpy old men. That comment is tactically dismissive of all comments not on board with the comeback belief. Perhaps it is because the idea of "comeback" is poorly defined somewhere between hope and true gains in an evolving market.
Remember that film sales peaked in about 2001 at 1 billion rolls. Estimates by Kodak insiders suggested that 98% of that film was C41; mom, dad, sis, bub and my Aunt Betty with Kodak moments processed at the local Photomat. That leaves about 20 million rolls for a variety of shooters of BW, C41, E6, and Kodachrome. In that context 10-20% increases, cited in this site from industry mixers, since 2015, is not huge. At 10-20% it doubles to 40 million in 5-10 years...compared to 1 billion.
It is a reset, a stabilization, at a place and rate from which potential entrepreneurs and downscaled manufacturers can make plans to exploit a known market. It is a comeback or less generously, spin, if you are selling film and associated gear and supplies, looking for investors, on a mission to make film a success into the future, encouraging the community, or simply a passionate community.
As I have reported from our photo department that serves 22,000 students at 4 colleges in the district, our traditional 3 sections of BW have been reduced to 2 with a total enrollment of 25. 2 sections of Intro to Digital had 59. As an update, with the usual fall-off in photo classes in general as the semester settles, we are at 19 (-24%) and 51 (-14%). If drop rates follow the usual rates (consistent for the last 5 years), film will deliver (the retention rate) 8-15 (-67%-60%) and Digital 34-40 (-42%-32%) to the finish line. Importantly, only 18% of film students go on to take more photo classes compared to 38% from Digital classes. That means film will contribute 1-3 students and Digital 12-15 students to further classes in the department.
In broad strokes we have gone from 5 to 2 sections of film since 2011. Next semester there will be only 1 section of Film. It doesn't stand up to any fiscal scrutiny. Even our film MFA sees that and supports the change.
Note; while we provide all the darkroom stuff, the cost of film and paper is a real stress. We just had a nice donation of film and paper and we budget for a certain amount of that to give out. Additionally, the availability of cameras and cameras that do not break down is an issue. I just donated one of my FM2s with an 85 f2; not done lightly. The only way that the camera issue changes is if we have an effective film crusader. We do have one in the department, who teaches at the Pro level and is a former lab owner and Brookie, and film use in his classes is exceedingly rare.
Not a comeback, a reset. You may sit on my lawn.