As Kodak prepares to launch its smartphone, Eastman Kodak boss Jeff Clarke has revealed a bevy of technologies new and old the company plans to invest in.
Clarke admits Kodak may have jumped onto the digital trend much later than its printing rivals, but says the company is well-prepared for the next big technology trend – analogue.
Clarke says there are big bucks to be made from modernising nostalgic household items such as the vinyl record player.
“There has been a significant transformation from analogue to digital but I think there is some digital fatigue out there as well,” he says.
“What we are counting on is that there will be an analogue renaissance… we still believe that print is here forever, and that the digital and the analogue work can live together.”
Despite the surprise revelation in March that it would sell its inkjet printing division, Kodak is still a major player in the print industry, with $US1.2bn of its $US1.7bn in annual sales generated from the sale of its print and imaging technology to commercial printers.
Kodak remains involved in its offset plates, CTP business, its packaging plates and its Nexpress toner-based digital press platform.
Though the company is still firmly grounded in print, Clarke says Kodak is looking to push the boundaries by developing expertise in the current 3D printing trend.
Kodak’s new smartphone set to be released this week will integrate the company’s photographic legacy and will master other technological feats to make it stand out from the crowd, according to Clarke.
“The phones out there are all very similar to each other and we intend to make one that is going to be very difference, it will not be like the typical phone you see every day,” he says.
“We think there is real room for differentiation in this space, not just through the applications but also in the physical technology.”
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