Kodak anticipates launch of products this year
Matthew Daneman
Staff writer
(February 3, 2008) — Eastman Kodak Co. jumped into the desktop printer market last year with its All-in-One, promising to sell 500,000 by year's end. The company exceeded its goal, selling 520,000.
Now, Kodak is promising to roll out other products in coming months that represent new technologies or business areas.
The first such introduction is expected this week, with Chief Executive Antonio M. Perez talking about a new product based on "a series of breakthrough technologies."
Director of Public Affairs John E. Richardson declined to elaborate Friday.
But Perez, in a conference call with the investment community earlier last week, said the new product revolves around technology Kodak announced about six months ago.
That may mean the company is about to make commercially available its digital camera image sensors that it says will take vastly better pictures in low light than what consumers see today.
Kodak announced the new image sensors last June and said then that it expected to roll out the technology in early 2008.
Meanwhile, Perez also said last week that in the next six months, cell phone giant Motorola Inc. will announce products that have a Kodak contribution.
The two companies are in a 10-year collaboration on various projects involving imaging combined with mobile communications technology, such as improving the quality and transmission of photos taken by camera phones.
Kodak also plans to unveil this spring its long-promised commercial printing technology of continuous inkjet that runs at high speed and high resolution. Perez said last week the company will show off the continuous inkjet technology, called Stream, in May at drupa 2008, the world's largest commercial printing trade show.
Some of Kodak's latest products will be on display Thursday in New York City as the company holds its annual meeting with institutional investors.
Perez also is expected to lay out the company's aims for 2008 and the next several years.
MDANEMAN@DemocratandChronicle.com
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