Since their invention of the first personal camera in 1888, Kodak has had a dominant hold on many products in the consumer market. However, with the advent of digital cameras and a move away from film, sales of these products have fallen dramatically. In a desperate attempt to recreate some of the lost revenue, Kodak has entered the printer market with a dramatically different marketing strategy. Rather than selling cheap printers with expensive ink, Kodak initially marked their printers with a relatively high cost with less expensive ink. This has failed to garner significant sales and while they have taken a healthy portion of the printer market, they have failed to accomplish what they really set out to do.

This marketing strategy has since been copied by most of the major printer manufacturers as compatible ink companies have made the expensive ink model of printer sales untenable. This has resulted in a loss of competitive advantage for Kodak and they have failed to see the revenue gains from this move to printers.

However during this same time their debt has increased dramatically to help fund this endeavor. This week it has largely come to a head as their stock has dropped to under a dollar as investors are fleeing the sinking ship that is this 130+ year old company.