Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/07/23

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Subject: RE: [Leica] Kodak to cut up to 6,000 jobs
From: "Don Dory" <dorysrus@mindspring.com>
Date: Wed, 23 Jul 2003 21:59:31 -0400

I have to agree with Ted.  Every year Kodak downsizes another 6000 to
20000 employees as their business evaporates.  Fifteen years ago they
pissed off all the small dealers (paper and chemistry) by not selling to
them directly, it wasn't efficient.  All the small guys went to Agfa and
Konica primarily.  Then they didn't bend over backwards to keep Wal-Mart
and that huge market.   To grow the business back the brilliant
strategists at Kodak pissed off the largest photographic retailer (Ritz)
by sucking up to Ritz's largest competitor, Wolf.  So Ritz switches to
Fuji paper and chemistry and by the way pushes Fuji film.

Sometime about ten years ago, Kodak filed an anti-dumping suit against
Fuji to stop them from selling paper and chemistry from Holland.  The
management at Fuji took it personally and built a giant complex in the
Carolina's just so they could sell in the US at any price they cared to.

It gets even better, to make their bottom line look better, Kodak chokes
Wolf by dumping Fox Photo on them.  Wolf goes bankrupt as a result and
who buys the chain out of bankruptcy for a song?  Ritz takes over Wolf
and promptly switches that business to Fuji.

I could go on about how many billion dollars Kodak has dropped on
digital.  They have an OK medium format back and a dismal line of
consumer cameras.

Oh, and did I mention that Kodak pays Fuji a royalty for every
disposable camera that Kodak sells?

But maybe the film business in China will grow fast enough to save them.

Don
dorysrus@mindspring.com


Hi Mehrdad:

Interesting point-of-view.  I hadn't considered that.  The lead item in
the
article was pointing towards loss of revenues from the sale of film and
paper.

Ted



> Ted, this has nothing to do with film vs. digital. This is gross
> mismanagement, lack of leadership and a complete lack of vision.
>
> ---------------------------------------------------
> regards, mehrdad



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