Kodak Went Digital. Why Did It Still Go Bankrupt?

Kodak built a working digital camera in 1975. It still filed for bankruptcy in 2012. How did a company that helped create digital photography lose its film empire? FACTS (verified) 1888: $25 camera, 100 exposures; $10 processing/reloading. S03 1900: Brownie launched at $1. S05-S06 1975: Sasson's prototype recorded a 100x100-pixel image in 23 seconds. S09-S10 1978: Lloyd/Sasson patent assigned to Kodak. S12 1988: 145,300 employees worldwide. S31 1991: professional DCS; 1992: Photo CD. S07, S13-S14 2006: Kodak's digital sales ($5.9bn) were already higher than its traditional sales ($4.6bn). Sales categories, not profit. S15 CDG one-off IP licensing revenue: $838m (2010), $64m (2011). S16 Chapter 11: 19 January 2012; emergence: September 2013. S19, S22 2025: $1.069bn revenue; printing, materials, chemicals and film businesses. S42 SOURCES S03 https://www.eastman.org/two-rare-roll... S06 (Brownie) https://www.neh.gov/article/how-kodak... S09 (Sasson) https://www.invent.org/inductees/stev... S10 (prototype) https://www.cameramuseum.ch/en/discov... S12 https://patents.google.com/patent/US4... S31 https://abcnews.com/blogs/business/20... S07 (launches) https://www.kodak.com/en/company/page... S14 (Photo CD) https://www.cameramuseum.ch/en/discov... S15 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... S16 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... S19 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... S22 https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... S42 https://www.kodak.com/en/company/pres... VISUAL CREDITS Framing, scaling and graphic overlays added; adapted BY-SA visuals keep their source licenses. The thumbnail uses a cropped version of Warren LeMay's photo with the sky darkened. Links open the original files. CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Tekniska museet https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Jannet https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Infrogmation of New Orleans https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Don DeBold https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Emran Kassim https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Steve Browne & John Verkleir https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Robert Cutts https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Wolfgang Moroder https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Ashley Pomeroy https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Hannes Grobe (player) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Hannes Grobe (Photo CD) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Aljawad https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Warren LeMay 1 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Warren LeMay 2 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Warren LeMay 3 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Warren LeMay 4 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... formulanone https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Morio https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Luxhunter68 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... DanielPenfield https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...) Thistle33 https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Friedrich Haag https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Phiarc https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Superbass https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Kskhh https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... TurnOnTheNight https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Mister rf (back) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Mister rf (opened) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Petar Milosevic (film box 1) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Petar Milosevic (film box 2) https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Tokumeigakarinoaoshima https://commons.wikimedia.org/?curid=... Other archive credits: Smithsonian/NPG; USPTO; Boston Public Library; National Park Service; Prelinger Archives (Holmes/Burton Films, Eastman Kodak). Sam Hood/State Library of NSW (no known copyright restrictions): https://www.flickr.com/photos/stateli... AI illustrations explain the prototype; they are not archival photographs. Every fact in this video is sourced in the description. Subscribe to Brands on Record for the next story.