Kodak Invented the Digital Camera. So Why Did It Go Bankrupt?

The story

In 1975, a young Kodak engineer built the world's first handheld digital camera. Management's reaction, as he remembers it: "That's cute, but don't tell anyone about it." Thirty six years later, Kodak filed for bankruptcy.

But Kodak didn't simply ignore digital. By 2005, it was selling more digital cameras in America than anyone else. This is the story of how the company that invented the future was destroyed by it, and how its biggest rival, Fujifilm, survived the same storm.

Three lessons

1. 1

   Inventing the future isn't enough. You have to be willing to let it eat your present.

2. 2

   Know what business you are really in. Kodak thought it was in film. Fujifilm realized it was in chemistry.

3. 3

   Follow the customer's moment. People never loved film. They loved memories.

Chapters

1. 0:00Intro
2. 0:56You Press the Button
3. 1:44The Kodak Moment
4. 2:30The Toaster That Took Pictures
5. 3:23The Enemy Within
6. 4:19The Photos Nobody Printed
7. 5:00The Last Frame
8. 5:33The Road Not Taken
9. 6:30Three Lessons
10. 7:07Outro

Sources

Every fact in this file is checked against published sources before release. See our standards.

• Engineering and Technology History Wiki (IEEE), Handheld Digital Camera, 1975
• Forbes, How Kodak Failed (Sasson quote, 1981 study, George Fisher)
• NBC News, Digital camera turns 30
• Rochester Business Journal, Kodak's growth and decline, a timeline
• Universitat Pompeu Fabra case study, Eastman Kodak (1976 market share)
• NBC News, Kodak tops U.S. digital camera market (IDC, 2005)
• Bloomberg, Kodak sells Gallery to Shutterfly for $23.8 million
• CNN Money, Eastman Kodak files for Chapter 11 (Jan 19, 2012)
• Harvard Business School, Fujifilm: surviving the digital revolution
• CBS News, Kodak's 2025 going concern warning
• Kodak, statement on media reports (Aug 2025)