The Decision That Threw Kodak Into Bankruptcy



In 2012, 130-year-old camera company Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy. By then, the company had already become a cautionary tale for anyone considering a career in business. That's because they made one tragic mistake that put them on the path to ruin. In 1975, Kodak invented the first digital camera. However, they made the fateful decision not to produce it at that time because they were worried that it might eat into the sales of their analog film. In 1990, they finally launched the digital camera, but by then the market was so crowded with products from Canon and other Asian manufacturers that the Kodak digital camera flopped and the company never recovered.