Polaroid - Kodak Case Study

Question 1

Polaroid

First inventions

Answer 1

• Led by Edwin Land - top 100 in US
• Started company with polaroid glasses - stretched polymers to prevent electric field from going through linearly
  
  • Cuts out light reflected off surfaces to reduce glare
• Then, 3D movies (ahead of time) in 1940s - money wasn’t there to support it
  
  • Thumb experiment, eyes see at different angles - brain interprets as depth
  • Recreated with two cameras in spacing, two projectors used to show
  • One projector shows polarized light, electric field in one plane and other field in other
  • Glasses made to only take in light from one camera in each lens, worked! But didn’t take off.
• Instant Photography was first major invention (1940s)
  
  • Now it’s light to electronics, but then it was light to chemistry
  • Light makes chemical reaction from film, colored photographs ready in two minutes
  • Increase in 25% per year sales for several decades
  • Didn’t think it was any good b/c photochemistry didn’t work, optics were fine, but then allowed for quick development
  • Muddy picture, brown, but came out in minutees
  • The chemsitry was key in their invention, refined to capture image more and more carefully and reprodcued more carefully
• By 1960, got color within minutes
• Then put 500 million in new camera (Tungsten instant photography) which was revolutionary, made Kodak back off competing
  
  • Kodak was #1 camera company at the time
• Kodak came out with “Instamatic Camera” advertising gimic, can take 4 pictures quickly with the bulbs
  
  • Film rolled automatically from one side to the other
  • Automatic focus
  • But, not instant because you had to send to Kodak still to develop
• Polaroid camera
  
  • Automatic focus
  • Picture develops in 1 minute, 12 pictures per roll
  • Films were not as good as Kodak
• Polaroid got to color and were taking up 25% of Kodak’s market
  
  • Upper management at Kodak were told to go after instant photography regardless of patents
• Kodak made instant camera and facililty to produce it
• Polaroid won the infringement suit ($925mil in damages)
  
  • Lost focus on its research

Question 2

Kodak

Entering the market

Answer 2

• Kodak was #1 camera company at the time
• Said Polaroid was ridiculous and no legit photographer would buy it
• Dominated amateur photography
• When they heard about color photography from Polaroid, came out with Instamatic camera
  
  • Advertising gimmick
  • There were things about it that were instant like the shifting of the bulb, but could not produce a picture in a minute
• Film was much better than Polaroid’s
• 1970’s: turned their eyes to the market for color cameras
  
  • Instant camera and made a plant to produce them
• Largest infringement case in history
  
  • 11 patents to do with chemistry of the design in question
  • Lost 1.9 bil in selling the plant
  • Paid 500mil to buy cameras back
  • $100mil in legal fees between the two
  • $3bil net cost in entire suit

Question 3

The market

Answer 3

• By the 1990s there were other companies working on pixels for intensities of light to produce images
  
  • Light to electrical signals to digital
• Pixels crazy small now because semiconductors have shrunk to nm