Kodak in #2 spot gaining on Sony. Canon #3

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Kodak is gaining on Sony in U.S. digital camera market

ASSOCIATED PRESS

ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Eastman Kodak Co. is nipping at Sony Corp.'s heels in the
ballooning U.S. digital camera market.

The world's biggest film manufacturer, aiming to become the No. 1 seller of
point-and-shoot digital cameras on its home turf in 2004, almost drew level
with Japanese front-runner Sony in third-quarter U.S. camera shipments, market
research firm IDC said Friday.

Sony delivered 1 million consumer digital cameras in the third quarter, only
10,000 more than Kodak, IDC said. Canon Inc. ranked third with 800,000
shipments, followed by Olympus Corp. with 585,000. Other major camera makers
include Fuji Photo Film Co., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Nikon Corp.

IDC, based in Framingham, Mass., estimates that 24 million digital cameras will
be sold in the United States this year, up from nearly 17 million in 2003, and
sales could jump to $8 billion from $5.7 billion.

While profits are harder to measure, "the more cameras you get out there, the
more likely" a company can generate sales of printers, paper, ink and other
high-margin accessories, said IDC analyst Christopher Chute.

Kodak's digital camera business "crossed the line into profitability" late last
year and expects to stay on the "positive side of that line going forward,"
said Greg Westbrook, general manager of Kodak's digital-capture business.

"We had a really strong third quarter," Westbrook said. "We'll continue to
pursue that top spot in the U.S. during this year."

About 5 million consumer digital cameras were churned out from July to
September, up from 3.6 million in last year's third quarter. Yet the fourth
quarter will be far busier: More than 10 million cameras will be sent to stores
to take advantage of the holiday season.

Kodak invented the world's first digital camera prototype in 1976 but appeared
to have been caught off-guard by the speed with which shutterbugs took to
digital photography, analysts say. Kodak insists it didn't want to leap in
until a mass market was clearly developing.




Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

>Subject: Re: Kodak in #2 spot gaining on Sony. Canon #3
>From: "Jeremy" jeremy@nospam.com
>Date: 12/6/2004 9:21 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <ky0td.7043$Va5.4441@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net>
>
>
>"ArtKramr" <artkramr@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:20041206112814.12272.00001874@mb-m28.aol.com...
>>
>> IDC, based in Framingham, Mass., estimates that 24 million digital cameras
>will
>> be sold in the United States this year, up from nearly 17 million in 2003
>>
>
>Those figures seem staggering. They must far outstrip the number of 35mm
>SLRs that were sold in the early 70s, when SLR systems were all the rage.


I was shocked when I first read those numbers. Everyone wrote Kodak off. Yet
now they are outstripping Nikon and Canon. I guess we can never underestimate
Kodak when it comes to photography.



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"ArtKramr" <artkramr@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20041206112814.12272.00001874@mb-m28.aol.com...
> Kodak is gaining on Sony in U.S. digital camera market
>
> ASSOCIATED PRESS
>
> ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Eastman Kodak Co. is nipping at Sony Corp.'s heels in
the
> ballooning U.S. digital camera market.
>
> The world's biggest film manufacturer, aiming to become the No. 1 seller
of
> point-and-shoot digital cameras on its home turf in 2004, almost drew
level
> with Japanese front-runner Sony in third-quarter U.S. camera shipments,
market
> research firm IDC said Friday.
>
> Sony delivered 1 million consumer digital cameras in the third quarter,
only
> 10,000 more than Kodak, IDC said. Canon Inc. ranked third with 800,000
> shipments, followed by Olympus Corp. with 585,000. Other major camera
makers
> include Fuji Photo Film Co., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Nikon Corp.
>
> IDC, based in Framingham, Mass., estimates that 24 million digital cameras
will
> be sold in the United States this year, up from nearly 17 million in 2003,
and
> sales could jump to $8 billion from $5.7 billion.
>
> While profits are harder to measure, "the more cameras you get out there,
the
> more likely" a company can generate sales of printers, paper, ink and
other
> high-margin accessories, said IDC analyst Christopher Chute.
>
> Kodak's digital camera business "crossed the line into profitability" late
last
> year and expects to stay on the "positive side of that line going
forward,"
> said Greg Westbrook, general manager of Kodak's digital-capture business.
>
> "We had a really strong third quarter," Westbrook said. "We'll continue to
> pursue that top spot in the U.S. during this year."
>
> About 5 million consumer digital cameras were churned out from July to
> September, up from 3.6 million in last year's third quarter. Yet the
fourth
> quarter will be far busier: More than 10 million cameras will be sent to
stores
> to take advantage of the holiday season.
>
> Kodak invented the world's first digital camera prototype in 1976 but
appeared
> to have been caught off-guard by the speed with which shutterbugs took to
> digital photography, analysts say. Kodak insists it didn't want to leap in
> until a mass market was clearly developing.

Yawn. The old meaningless numbers game, yet again. What do revenue
figures look like, though? I'd bet they show that Kodak is selling a large
number of inexpensive, entry-level cameras compared to Sony, et al., and
that Kodak's bottom-line still isn't that great. And then there's the
evolution factor: Someone buys a bargain-priced Kodak, he or she grows fond
of digital photography, then that consumer goes out and buys a first "real"
camera, a Sony, a Canon, whatever.

I did like the part where Kodak "didn't want to leap in until a mass market
was clearly developing." God, it's great to see such courage and
innovation in a competitive world, isn't it? Almost gives me chills and
that kind of corporate far-thinking certainly bodes well for future success,
I'm sure. I did note the Kodak guy didn't say anything about all those
Kodak photo-printing kiosks that we were supposed to be seeing in every bus
and train station around the world by now. Oh, wait-- that was Kodak's big
marketing breakthrough two years ago, wasn't it? Ho de ho ho hum.

You know, there are billions more ants than people, yet everyday I hardly
notice the ants. But the ants do have the numbers on their side, I must
admit.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

>Subject: Re: Kodak in #2 spot gaining on Sony. Canon #3
>From: "Paul H." xxpaulhtck@zzcomcast.yycom
>Date: 12/6/2004 10:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time
>Message-id: <QrKdnT8d95dh2yjcRVn-3w@comcast.com>
>
>
>"ArtKramr" <artkramr@aol.com> wrote in message
>news:20041206112814.12272.00001874@mb-m28.aol.com...
>> Kodak is gaining on Sony in U.S. digital camera market
>>
>> ASSOCIATED PRESS
>>
>> ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Eastman Kodak Co. is nipping at Sony Corp.'s heels in
>the
>> ballooning U.S. digital camera market.
>>
>> The world's biggest film manufacturer, aiming to become the No. 1 seller
>of
>> point-and-shoot digital cameras on its home turf in 2004, almost drew
>level
>> with Japanese front-runner Sony in third-quarter U.S. camera shipments,
>market
>> research firm IDC said Friday.
>>
>> Sony delivered 1 million consumer digital cameras in the third quarter,
>only
>> 10,000 more than Kodak, IDC said. Canon Inc. ranked third with 800,000
>> shipments, followed by Olympus Corp. with 585,000. Other major camera
>makers
>> include Fuji Photo Film Co., Hewlett-Packard Co. and Nikon Corp.
>>
>> IDC, based in Framingham, Mass., estimates that 24 million digital cameras
>will
>> be sold in the United States this year, up from nearly 17 million in 2003,
>and
>> sales could jump to $8 billion from $5.7 billion.
>>
>> While profits are harder to measure, "the more cameras you get out there,
>the
>> more likely" a company can generate sales of printers, paper, ink and
>other
>> high-margin accessories, said IDC analyst Christopher Chute.
>>
>> Kodak's digital camera business "crossed the line into profitability" late
>last
>> year and expects to stay on the "positive side of that line going
>forward,"
>> said Greg Westbrook, general manager of Kodak's digital-capture business.
>>
>> "We had a really strong third quarter," Westbrook said. "We'll continue to
>> pursue that top spot in the U.S. during this year."
>>
>> About 5 million consumer digital cameras were churned out from July to
>> September, up from 3.6 million in last year's third quarter. Yet the
>fourth
>> quarter will be far busier: More than 10 million cameras will be sent to
>stores
>> to take advantage of the holiday season.
>>
>> Kodak invented the world's first digital camera prototype in 1976 but
>appeared
>> to have been caught off-guard by the speed with which shutterbugs took to
>> digital photography, analysts say. Kodak insists it didn't want to leap in
>> until a mass market was clearly developing.
>
>Yawn. The old meaningless numbers game, yet again. What do revenue
>figures look like, though? I'd bet they show that Kodak is selling a large
>number of inexpensive, entry-level cameras compared to Sony, et al., and
>that Kodak's bottom-line still isn't that great. And then there's the
>evolution factor: Someone buys a bargain-priced Kodak, he or she grows fond
>of digital photography, then that consumer goes out and buys a first "real"
>camera, a Sony, a Canon, whatever.
>
>I did like the part where Kodak "didn't want to leap in until a mass market
>was clearly developing." God, it's great to see such courage and
>innovation in a competitive world, isn't it? Almost gives me chills and
>that kind of corporate far-thinking certainly bodes well for future success,
>I'm sure. I did note the Kodak guy didn't say anything about all those
>Kodak photo-printing kiosks that we were supposed to be seeing in every bus
>and train station around the world by now. Oh, wait-- that was Kodak's big
>marketing breakthrough two years ago, wasn't it? Ho de ho ho hum.
>
>You know, there are billions more ants than people, yet everyday I hardly
>notice the ants. But the ants do have the numbers on their side, I must
>admit.


Ever heard of "share of market" as a significant figure of merit indicating
sales success?



Arthur Kramer
344th BG 494th BS
England, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany
Visit my WW II B-26 website at:
http://www.coastcomp.com/artkramer