Kodak Pulls Plug on Inkjet Printers, Extends Deadline For Bankruptcy Emergence
By: Caroline Tucker
Updated: September 28, 2012
On Friday, Kodak said it would phase
out its consumer ink-jet printer line.
The company said starting in 2013, it
will focus its business on the sale of ink for printers that are
already on the market, but it will wind down sales of consumer
ink-jet printers.
The struggling company said the
decision will improve cash flow for the first half of 2013.
Consumer ink-jet printers were a part
of the company's emergence plan, but it appears that that focus is
shifting.
The company is planning to focus on
commercial, packaging, and functional printing solutions and
enterprise services.
This will also mean another 200
employees are expected to lose their jobs.
Kodak said it will save the company
another $340 million per year and bring overall workforce totals
worldwide down to 13,100 employees.
Larry Matteson, a former Kodak Senior VP, who is now a professor at th Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester said he is surprised Kodak didn't shed its consumer printer line before now.
"I think it is a good business move. I think it's an appropriate move and I think they will be glad they made that decision," said Larry Matteson, Executive Professor of Business Administration, at the Simon School.
Matteson said the consumer printing business is very competitive.
Kodak didn't enter the market until 2007.
"I am sympathetic with the difficulty of the challenge. I know of no other company in the US that has had as tough of a challenge of what it's been going through," said Matteson.
Kodak is also asking the U.S.
Bankruptcy Court for an extension to file it's bankruptcy
reorganization plan.
It is asking to push the deadline to
February 28, 2013. This move indicates that the company likely will
not emerge from bankruptcy during the first quarter of the year.
The company reported that negotiations
continue with the intellectual property sale and that it is
developing alternatives if a sale is not reached.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court is expected
to take a look at the motion on October 17.
