[MattKing]

GM's market share dropped during their downsizing time. If memory serves GM used to have close to 50% market share in the US around 1980. Today that is less than 20%. Somehow they managed to downsize their operations and continue production.

No one is making any new films. Kodak is just selling their old formulations.

If Kodak downsized properly, they can adjust their facility to be the proper size. According to PE Kodak can produce a years demand of film in one day today. Kodak could easily produce enough to keep sales going while they re-tool their production to the smaller size.

Everyone always comes back with numerous excuses that say can't can't can't. Can't be done. I've never seen a more negative (heh heh) industry than film producing. Why is it ALWAYS can't be done?

RattyMouse:

Market share doesn't mean squat in a market that is shrinking. And GM's market share was high, but their losses were higher.

Kodak is saddled with the expectations of the holders of what was once a huge market capitalization.

The directors of Kodak are/were required by law to try to replace the profit stream that was film with something similarly profitable. Film will never be that big again.

I believe that film can be a profitable and healthy industry, but I think that Kodak wasted its chance to be a major part of that industry. If they had downsized several years ago, and then used their resources to build other, parallel streams of profits, things would be different.

Remember that it took an insolvency and what was essentially a re-start from almost the beginning to make Ilford the small but apparently successful entity that it is now.

And Ilford remains far, far smaller than Kodak's film and paper business is today.