Kodak, the company which invented the hand-held camera and helped bring the world the first pictures from the moon, has filed for bankruptcy protection.
The once-iconic photography firm struggled to adjust to the digital revolution which overtook much of its traditional, film-based business.
This morning Eastman Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which will protect it from its creditors while the company attempts to restructure. Staff will continue to be paid during the restructuring operation.
It has obtained a £615m loan from Citigroup which will allow it to continue trading while it searches for buyers of its 1,100 digital imaging patents.
The 133-year-old firm had recently began focusing on software and inkjet printers to stem falling profits.
Kodak’s chairman and chief executive Antonio M Perez said: “The board of directors and the entire senior management team unanimously believe that this is a necessary step and the right thing to do for the future of Kodak.”
Kodak throughout the ages
- Founded by George Eastman in 1880, Kodak sold the first flexible roll film in 1888
- In 1900 it began selling the $1 Brownie camera
- In 1937, the first electronic scanner for graphic arts was developed in the Kodak labs.
- For the Apollo 11 mission, Kodak built the electronic camera that sent still pictures back from the moon in 1969.
- The phrase “Kodak moment” came about from an ad campaign launched by the company in the 1970s which saw families and friends capturing special moments of life on film.
- In the 1997 Mars Surface Rover mission, Kodak image sensors captured close-up images of Mars.
- In 1987, Kodak researchers invented OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) technology.
- Kodak designed the optics for the Chandra X-ray space telescope in 1999.