Rochester, N.Y. – On the heels of a 61 percent drop in second quarter earnings and the announcement that it will cut approximately 6,000 jobs, Kodak announced today the formation of a consolidated new business unit: Consumer & Professional Imaging products and services.
The new unit incorporates most of the operations of the formerly separate Consumer Imaging and Kodak Professional products and services divisions.
All products and services within the new Consumer & Professional Imaging division will be divided into categories focused on either image capture or output. They will be supported by a worldwide sales organization that will maintain focus on, and specific capability for, distinct customer segments.
The capture business will include products such as consumer cameras, one time use cameras, consumer and professional films, while kiosks, professional lab solutions, and professional thermal printers, retail mini-lab solutions, photographic paper and wholesale operations will be grouped in the output business.
Matthias Freund, acting president of the former Consumer Imaging business, will lead the new consolidated organization while Karen Smith-Pilkington, who ran Kodak Professional, has been named business operations manager for the new business.
‘For our customers and consumers, this move will result in a stronger organization better positioned to supply their product and service needs; for our employees, it will ultimately mean a more efficient and advantaged position from which to compete in the industry,’ said Antonio Perez, Kodak’s president and COO.
