Kodak surprised the print industry today by admitting it is looking to sell its inkjet printing division, and says it is already in talks with rival developers.

The company produces the Prosper platform and Stream inkjet heads, and is about to launch UltraStream at drupa – an inkjet packaging printer.

Kodak says it is selling the division because it believes a new owner will have more effective sales and distribution channels.

Prospective purchasers include rival developers Canon, Screen, Ricoh, HP, KBA and Fuji Xerox. Konica Minolta is also a possible buyer. However ProPrint believes that it is more likely to be EFI, which is cash rich, acquisition hungry, and has no high speed inkjet web.

The Kodak inkjet division has been in the vanguard of the high speed inkjet web sector for six years, however that position has not translated into many sales. Kodak is thought to have no more than two dozen inkjet web Prosper lines installed around the world, although it has more of its Stream inkjet heads on offset web presses. In Australia, it has a monochrome Prosper installed at SOS Print + Media in Sydney.

Kodak says it will continue to invest in and develop its inkjet platforms until the division is sold. It will be showing its entire range at drupa, including the new UltraStream line for packaging printing.

Many industry pundits believe high speed inkjet web will eventually overtake offset webs, although the quality of print is not yet at offset levels. Sheetfed inkjet similarly is poised to make major gains following this year's drupa.

The sale of Kodak's inkjet division, along with a 3D printing arm, leaves the company with its offset plates, CTP business, its packaging plates and its Nexpress toner-based digital press platform.

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