Business Insight Zone

Today’s Company of the Day is Eastman Kodak.

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“You press the button, we do the rest.” That simple slogan captured the vision of George Eastman, the founder of Eastman Kodak who transformed the world of photography with his vision of easy-to-use cameras that anyone could operate. For a century and more, the company dominated the consumer photography market with blockbuster products like the Brownie and Instamatic cameras and Kodachrome film. Countless movies — whether 8mm home-made jobs or major motion pictures — were also shot on Kodak film. But that dominance has eroded over the past ten years as the revolution in digital photography has upended the film-based industry. These days, consumers who once sent their Kodak cameras back to the company for processing are much likelier to snap photos using digital cameras, then share the pictures online through services like Flickr and Facebook. On top of that, many of today’s motion pictures are never “films” at all, since they’re shot, edited, and distributed in all-digital formats.

These shifts in the marketplace have forced painful changes within Kodak. The company’s revenue figures have been flat or declining throughout this decade, and it has sustained big losses in thepast couple of years as it has shifted its focus away from film toward digital photography and imaging. How radical has the shift been? Kodak now has only half as many employees as it did in 1999.

This week, the company used the appointment of Philip Faraci as COO as a chance to say that its four-year restructuing process is nearly complete. Kodak hasn’t abandoned the film business altogether, since it still sees room for growth in traditional film cameras and preloaded cameras in big developing markets like China and India. But if the last few years are any guide, Kodak’s growth as a blended digital and traditional photography company will never be as simple as pushing a button.

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