Topic: Is Kodak Selling Their Film Division?

[original_ann]

Has anyone heard anything??

http://www.whec.com/news/stories/s1875306.shtml

[moominsean]

interesting. maybe they are merging? or maybe someone is leaving the company and selling his shares...

sad to think that 10 years from now, a diversity of new film may be hard to find.

[original_ann]

I want to be an optimist, but it feels so wrong if Kodak were to decide to divest from film.  To me, Kodak IS film. 

[Photo_Utopia]

Well I wouldn't panic, rumours are just that. I'm guessing that even if they did sell that wouldn't be the end and they would probably keep the name Kodak as part of the sale.
For instance you may be aware that Kodaks chemical division is no longer owned by Kodak as such all Kodak chemicals are made by Champion.

it could be a good thing if they sold off the film division, at least then we'll know about the profitability without having to factor in those kiosk printers into sales figures.

If film can find its level, I'm sure it has a future.

PS does anyone else find it funny that the name of the guy in the link is Conboy 

[gothamtomato]

It would be weird and crazy, but then again, Kodak has made nothing but bad business decisions for the last 30 years. It is a true testament to the company the George Eastman built that a secession of bad CEOs (& boards) didn't kill it years ago.

[Lino]

Aw man, just the other day they where saying that film sales have increased. And film revival blablablah

I don't know anything about economy, but if someone is interested in buying the film division from kodak, it's because they can profit from it, right?

Conboy says Kodak film has been a bad investment and he has urged his stock clients to sell.

Damn you Conboy!

[original_ann]

One can only hope that if a sale or merger is in the future, that the buyer has an intention of profiting from the film division, not contributing to its demise.  So yes, hopefully this is all good one way or the other...

[Francois]

All I really hope is that they won't go the same way as when Agfa-Gevaert created Agfa Photo...

[Terry]

I don't give such a rumor much credit.  The people I know in the motion picture division say that it's profitable.  They took a small hit last year when the LA-produced TV shows switched from film to video (for union reasons, to break the SAG deadlock) but the shows that were shooting film were only the high-end dramas.  And only some of those switched to video.  And some are changing back.  But film is film--whether you use it in a still camera or a movie camera, the chemistry and coating processes are the same and happen in the same factories.  So it would make little sense to sell off their still film division.  What they are doing is merging--the new Portra stock looks a lot like the Vision 3 stocks they're selling to the movie industry, and it's probably using one of those emulsions (maybe 5207?).