The Kodak Chronicle - The Rise and Fall of 130 Years

January 19th Eastman Kodak Company, or Kodak Company for short, is the world's largest producer and supplier of imaging products and related services. Headquartered in Rochester, New York, USA, it operates in more than 150 countries and regions. With about 80,000 employees worldwide, its history can be traced back more than a hundred years ago. At present, China has become Kodak's second largest film market in the world, second only to the United States. According to forecasts, China will become Kodak’s largest global market in a few years.

Kodak Chronicle:

In 1878, Kodak's founder, Eastman, invented a film coated with a layer of dried gelatin. Before that, the negatives were all wet sheets.

In 1879, Eastman invented a milk coater and began mass production of dry film.

In 1881, Eastman invented the film and founded Eastman Dry Board Manufacturing Company in Rochester. This is the predecessor of Kodak.

In 1884, George Eastman formally obtained the patent ownership of the film.

In 1886, Eastman developed a roll of photosensitive film, "Eastman film."

In 1888, the small pocket camera "Kodak 1" went on the market and opened a new era of mass photography. Its successful myth lasted more than a hundred years.

In 1892, Eastman changed the company name to "Eastman Kodak" company. The reason why Kodak used the term nomenclature for the company is because Kodak is not easily misunderstood or mixed with the existing vocabulary.

In 1900, Kodak sold a Brownie camera for only $1, making it a new era for mass photography.

In 1930, Eastman Kodak was included in the average Dow Jones Industrial Average price index and maintained for 74 years.

In 1969, Kodak film was used for Apollo 11 lunar exploration missions.

In 1975, Kodak took the lead in creating a digital camera. In 1976, Kodak had a 90% share of the American film market, and its camera sales market share reached 85%.

In 1981, Kodak’s sales exceeded $10 billion.

In 1994, Apple released QuickTake, a popular digital camera, but in fact the camera was designed by Kodak and has been released for the first time in months with a pixel resolution of 640*480.

In 2004, Kodak was delisted by Dow Jones and stopped selling film cameras to cope with the digital trend.

In 2005, Kodak digital cameras won the US sales and made profits of US$5.7 billion. It fell to fourth in 2007 and fell to seventh in 2010.

In 2009, Kodak suspended the sale of 35-mm color film for 74 years.

In 2011, Kodak only managed to maintain its market share and was founded on the payment of huge pensions for employees. Kodak shares fell more than 80%.

In 2012, Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection in a bankruptcy court in New York in accordance with Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code of the United States.