Last month the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US as it looks to restructure and achieve survival. But now the company has shocked the world with the announcement that it is leaving the camera business. According to an article over at Cnet Kodak is expecting to phase out its digital cameras, digital picture frames, and video cameras by the end of June.

Kodak now wants to concentrate on the company’s brand licensing, and will look for buyers for some of its patents. Its online Kodak Gallery service along with its retail based photo printing will remain trading. The company’s range of inkjet printers will also continue to be available to consumers.

Kodak Consumer Business president Pradeep Jotwani said that for a while now Kodak has looked to increase its margins in the capture device sector by “narrowing our participation in terms of product portfolio, geographies and retail outlets”.

The company was a leading light in the camera business allowing consumers access to handheld cameras over a century ago. During the 1900s Kodak was a leader in its field, but this all changed as rival companies entered the digital camera market with more sought after devices. Kodak started to slip behind its rivals and with the rise of smartphones carrying quality cameras, consumers increasingly used these for those quick snap shots.

Despite working hard to turn the business around it eventually admitted defeat and filed for chapter 11. Kodak is looking to come out of bankruptcy by next year, and has agreed a $950 million financing deal to see it through the process.

Kodak currently has over 1,000 digital imaging patents that could prove invaluable as it looks to secure its long term future, and for those it doesn’t sell it has a number of lawsuits waiting in the wings for any company that infringes them. Are you sad to see the end of Kodak cameras?

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It has been officially announced that Eastman Kodak has entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US, which will mean the aging company can still trade while it restructures itself. The company will continue as normal, and if it gets Court approval has secured a $950 million credit facility from Citigroup according to a report on TechRadar.

Kodak has confirmed it expects to continue to honor staff wages, and supplying products and services. The company has released a statement and Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Antonion M. Perez, thanked the company’s staff, and hopes to have the restructuring of the business completed by 2013.

He stated that while the company has created their digital business they have also moved away from certain traditional operations. Kodak has closed thirteen plants and a number of processing labs, and has cut staffing levels by 47,000 since 2003.

Kodak will be looking to protect its digital capture patents, and the company has said that licensing agreements have earned it over $3 billion during the last nine years. Kodak has been actively pursuing alleged patent infringements recently, with the likes of Apple and Fuji under the spotlight.

As the news of the Chapter 11 move was made public by the company, it was also announced a new lawsuit was being issued against Samsung for possible patent infringements. It is being claimed that some of Samsung’s tablet PCs are breaking five of Kodak’s digital imaging patents. It has to be remembered other companies have filed for Chapter 11 and came out the other side stronger than before.

Are you sad about the news about Kodak?

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The company has been around for 131 years now, but some sources are claiming that the company could be preparing to seek bankruptcy protection in the next few weeks. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Kodak is trying to sell off some of its patent portfolio, and will hopefully avoid Chapter 11 if successful.

Now the company is rumored to be making preparations for a filing if the sales proof unsuccessful. It is also thought the company is talking to the banks about a $1 billion financing plan to keep the company going during any bankruptcy proceedings.

Kodak themselves has refused to comment on the rumors and just stated they never comment on “rumor or speculation”. Sources are claiming a filling could come as early as this month or the beginning of next month. If the company went under bankruptcy protection it could still operate as usual and pay its bills. It could then focus on selling assets such as patents via a court supervised auction.

Once renowned for dominating the industry the company has been responsible for many technological breakthroughs in the sector, and even invented the digital camera in 1975. Many believe the company was the Apple of its time but it failed to keep up with the market, and see the market fallout of the camera film sector with the advent of digital cameras.

Recently the company has been focusing on its consumer and commercial inkjet printing arm, but the sector is already crowded and has proved difficult to penetrate. It has been subsidizing sales so it can build a customer base for its ink.

Do you still purchase Kodak products?

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Although we have seen certain analysts point out that the time to correct the money problems is running out, and as this time shrinks the amount of options available to Kodak reduces as well. This article points out that they are looking to sell over 1,100 patents, which could apparently bring in as much as $3 billion for an IP sale, although some advisors point to the possibility that money could run out early next year.

The funny thing about change is it creeps up on us with little signs that could be classed as pebbles, and if you don’t adapt with the changes then you will be hit with rocks and eventually boulders that wipe you out. It seems that Eastman Kodak has been given these signs, but failed to change in time and is now faced with massive choices.

NY Times raises a good point by saying that certain analysts wonder if some bidders for Kodak’s patent auction may be a little hesitant, which may lead to these patent sales being fraudulent if bankruptcy were to happen. While we’re not sure of the facts with this outcome, you can read more in this article.

You can read the statement from Eastman Kodak Company (NYSE:EK) on the official website here, which explains their current situation and denial of the rumors circulating.

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Some of you may wonder why you would want a camera that stands out that much? The answer is simple – how boring is black? Having a camera that is red in color shows that you are trendy, and that you are not afraid to express yourself.

This camera is made just for social media users, as you can tag images with ease. All you need is your camera, as they can be tagged direct from the device; this makes it ideal when uploading to Flickr, Facebook or the Kodak Gallery, as well as emailing to friends as well.

Some of the features of the red Kodak EasyShare M5530 are as follows: 12-megapixel, 3x optical zoom, 2.7-inch screen, Image stabilization and much more. For more details on this camera Walmart has 8 videos showing you what this camera is all about.

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