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PRESS RELEASE: Kodak CEO Daniel A. Carp Credits Partnerships, Simplicity as Keys to Capitalizing on Opportunities in Infoimaging Industry
Carp Joins Other Leading Infoimaging CEOs in Panel Discussion at Photokina 2002
COLOGNE, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2002-- Companies attempting to capitalize on the opportunities presented by infoimaging, or the convergence of image science and information technology, must keep technological solutions simple and clearly communicate the benefits they deliver, Daniel A. Carp, chairman and CEO of Eastman Kodak Company, told an audience today during a landmark panel discussion at photokina 2002, the world's largest imaging trade show and exhibition.
The panel discussion entitled "Imaging Convergence. Market Convergence: Advances In Imaging Are Reshaping World Markets," brought together top executives and thought-leaders from the world's leading imaging and technology companies. The panelists discussed the impact that the convergence of image science and information technology is having on how companies serve customers. This convergence has created a $385 billion industry, called infoimaging, that offers many more opportunities for consumers and imaging companies to use images as never before, according to Carp.
"As we pursue new opportunities in the infoimaging industry, we should all follow one guiding principle," Carp said. "We must keep our solutions simple. We must focus on the benefits we deliver to customers, not just technology. For retailers, this means helping consumers incorporate digital imaging into their everyday lives, and for manufacturers, our challenge is to work collectively to broaden the options we offer consumers."
Carp used health imaging as an example of infoimaging in action, relating the story of Dr. Jerri Nielsen, the American physician who was working in Antarctica when she discovered a lump in her breast. Unable to leave the South Pole for more than seven months, Dr. Nielsen was diagnosed and treated by a U.S. doctor through health imaging applications.
To illustrate the breadth of companies participating in the infoimaging industry, Carp pointed to the diverse list of exhibitors at this year's photokina trade show. "Our industry and markets have changed dramatically," Carp said. "Look at today's panelists. In addition to traditional imaging leaders like Kodak, Fuji and Agfa, we're joined by IBM, Epson and a host of other companies actively shaping the infoimaging industry."
In addition to Mr. Carp, panel participants included: - Dr. Ludo Verhoeven, CEO, Agfa-Gevaert Group
- Minoru Ohnishi, chairman and CEO, Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd.
- Gail Whipple, vice president, Global Digital Media, IBM Corp.
- Norio Niwa, senior managing director and chief executive, Seiko Epson Corp.
- Alexis J. Gerard, president, Future Image Inc.
- Ted Fox, chief operating officer, Photo Marketing Association International
The panel was moderated by Paul Maidment, executive editor of Forbes magazine.
Collaboration among companies also is crucial in capitalizing on infoimaging opportunities, Carp added. For example, he said, retailers, manufacturers, service providers and others must work together to make it easier for people to take, print and share digital images. With this goal in mind, Kodak has joined the International Imaging Industry Association (I3A) with other imaging companies including Fuji, Hewlett-Packard, and Agfa, to create the Common Picture eXchange Environment (CPXe), an initiative that will make printing digital pictures as easy as it is with film. With CPXe, consumers will be able to take photos with any digital camera, upload them to any participating photofinisher, and order prints for home delivery or in-store pick up from the provider of their choice.
"This kind of collaboration would have been impossible in the past," Carp said. "It represents just a first step on a journey that will generate all kinds of picture-taking, sharing and printing opportunities for consumers and equally promising commercial opportunities for manufacturers and retailers."
Another example of Kodak's collaboration with other companies is the Kodak joint venture with SANYO Electric Co., Ltd. to manufacture active-matrix organic light emitting diode (OLED) display screens, which are more colorful, brighter and consume less power than the liquid crystal display (LCD) screens in widespread use today. Kodak also has forged joint ventures with Hewlett-Packard (Phogenix Imaging) and Heidelberg (NexPress), and strengthened its alliance with Noritsu Koki Co. on digital minilabs. In addition, Kodak is teaming with TRW to build NASA's next generation space telescope. Using its infrared sensors, the James Webb Space Telescope will peer into distant space to see the first stars and galaxies formed in the universe billions of years ago.
Carp also reinforced the vital role played by retailers. "Consumers want easy access to their pictures at the corner shop. They turn to the retail clerk who they know for prints as well as for information and guidance, and we cannot underestimate the importance of this interaction," Carp said.
Carp outlined four Kodak strategies designed to drive growth in infoimaging including: - Expanding the benefits of film;
- Driving printing of images in all forms;
- Creating easy-to-use digital products and services; and
- Developing new businesses in new markets.
Carp concluded his remarks with a challenge to the industry, urging all players to think beyond adapting the products and services that exist in today's imaging world and imagine the possibilities of what can be.
About Eastman Kodak Company and infoimaging
Kodak is the leader in helping people take, share, enhance, preserve, print and enjoy pictures - for memories, for information, for entertainment. The company is a major participant in infoimaging - a $385 billion industry composed of devices (digital cameras), infrastructure (online networks and delivery systems for images), and services and media (film and paper). Kodak harnesses its technology, market reach and a host of industry partnerships to provide innovative products and services for customers who need the information-rich content that images contain. The company, with sales last year of $13.2 billion, is organized into four major businesses: Photography, providing consumers, professionals and cinematographers with digital and traditional products and services; Commercial Imaging, offering image capture, output and storage products and services to businesses and government; Components, delivering flat-panel displays, optics and sensors to original equipment manufacturers; and Health, supplying the healthcare industry with traditional and digital image capture and output products and services.
Kodak is trademark of Eastman Kodak Company.
Editor's Note: For more information about Kodak and infoimaging, visit the Kodak Web site at: http://www.kodak.com/go/infoimaging. For a full text version of Carp's speech, visit www.Kodak.com/go/photokina; or to view a web cast of the panel discussion, visit http://www.photokina.de. 2002
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