| Kodak Hires Kojima from Olympus to Drive Digital Camera Business Pioneer of Japan's Digital Camera Industry to Help Kodak Extend Market Share
ROCHESTER, N.Y., April 16-Eastman Kodak Company announced that it has hired Yusuke Kojima, formerly of Olympus Optical Company, Ltd., as General Manager of the company's consumer digital camera business, Kodak's fastest-growing business. Kojima, who has been elected a corporate vice president of Kodak, reports to Willy Shih, President of Kodak's Digital & Applied Imaging business. His appointment is effective immediately.
In his new role, Kojima will be sharing responsibility for all manufacturing, distribution, sales and marketing of Kodak's EasyShare line of consumer digital cameras. The EasyShare camera and docking station has become popular among consumers for its ease of use, and under Kojima's leadership, Kodak intends to increase its share of the digital camera market. He will be based in Yokohama, Japan.
Kojima, a 35-year-veteran of Olympus, had served as Executive Officer and Group Vice President of Olympus' Imaging Systems Groups since 2001. Based on his strong technical leadership and vision, he drove Olympus to a leadership position in the industry. Prior to that assignment, he spent six years as the founding General Manager of the Digital Imaging Division at Olympus. In that role, he developed the division's first business plan, led Olympus' successful entry into the digital camera business, directed research and development of key new products and helped develop the worldwide digital camera market as a whole.
Kojima, 58, is the latest executive with expertise in digital products and services to join Kodak's senior management. This year, Kodak has hired Antonio M. Perez, formerly of Hewlett-Packard Co., as the company's President and Chief Operating Officer, and Bernard Masson, formerly of Lexmark International Inc., as President of Kodak's Display Group.
"Yusuke Kojima is widely viewed as one of the pioneers of the digital camera industry,'' Shih said. "He has negotiated major alliances with other leading imaging companies, and he has led an organization of 4,500 people developing, marketing and manufacturing digital cameras, both in Japan and China. Kojima's knowledge, experience and wealth of industry relationships in the digital camera business are unmatched."
Prior to 1995, Kojima spent four years as General Manager of the Olympus Domestic Sales Company, and prior to 1991, he held a number of increasingly responsible positions in the Olympus organization. He is a graduate of the highly regarded Keio University.
"I am proud to have joined the company that invented the digital camera, and I look forward to helping Kodak accelerate its effort to expand the digital camera market and its share of that market," Kojima said. "I expect that the Kodak brand, which is so well known for imaging excellence in the traditional market, will remain the standard of excellence in the digital world."
In his effort to further increase Kodak's market share, Kojima will work with Gregory R. Westbrook, currently General Manager, Digital Hardware Solutions, for Digital & Applied Imaging. A corporate vice president, Westbrook has been involved in setting the company's consumer digital imaging strategies since the early 1990s. In 1999, he relocated to Japan as General Manager of Operations for Digital & Applied Imaging, and this year returned to Kodak's headquarters in Rochester. He also reports to Shih.
"Digital cameras are now on the verge of becoming consumer mass-market products, and Kodak has every intention of claiming a larger share of that business," Shih said. "We continue to strengthen our management so that we keep producing the innovative new products and services that will generate profitable growth."
Kodak Names Antonio Perez as President, Chief Operating Officer
Adds World-Class Expert on Output to Drive Printing Growth
ROCHESTER, N.Y., April 2 -- Eastman Kodak Company announced that Antonio M. Perez has joined the company as President and Chief Operating Officer, reporting to Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Daniel A. Carp. His appointment is effective immediately.
Perez will oversee the day-to-day operations of the following businesses and other units at Kodak: Consumer Imaging, Kodak Professional, Digital & Applied Imaging, Entertainment Imaging, Commercial Imaging Group, Global Manufacturing & Logistics, Chief Marketing Office, Research & Development, and worldwide geographic regions. His responsibilities include improving operating performance, while serving as the CEO's strategic partner and driving Kodak's growth effort, with an emphasis on generating the increased printing of pictures as the company moves to claim a larger share of the $385 billion infoimaging market.
Perez, 57, brings to Kodak more than twenty-five years of global experience in the information technology, printing and consumer electronics industries, largely with Hewlett-Packard Company. His achievements include the following:
As President of HP's Consumer Business and Digital Media Solutions, Perez led one of HP's major growth areas digital imaging and e-publishing. The unit reached $16 billion in revenue under his leadership.
Perez managed HP's inkjet imaging business between 1995 and 1999, during which time the installed base of inkjet printers grew to 100 million from 17 million and revenue grew to more than $10 billion through continuous improvement of the business model and the creation of new printing categories.
Under his leadership of the inkjet business, HP applied thermal inkjet technology to large-format printers for the first time. Perez expanded thermal inkjet to printing categories new to HP, such as all-in-one products, fax machines, color copiers and photo printers. He also led HP's entry into the digital camera market.
After his retirement from HP, Perez served as President and CEO of Gemplus International between June 2000 and December 2001. During this period, he took the company public while growing revenues by 70% in the first fiscal year.
"Antonio is a seasoned business leader who is a world-class expert on output, or the printing of images," Carp said. "His significant experience with all aspects of digital printing will help us accelerate Kodak's output opportunities in digital and traditional markets. Our goal is to have Kodak products, technologies and services present wherever people and businesses print images.
"He joins Kodak as we pursue a larger share of the $385 billion market opportunity known as infoimaging," Carp said. "Antonio will help Kodak further those efforts with his exceptional operational abilities, his passion for building businesses in competitive markets, his knowledge of the industry and strategic vision."
In his 25-year career at HP, where he retired as a member of its Executive Council, Perez worked in Spain, Germany and the U.S., gaining worldwide business experience in such areas as digital cameras, scanners, printers, copiers and supply chain management. In those assignments, Perez was noted for building teams that measured success by achieving sustained, profitable growth through higher sales, market share and earnings. His work at HP included the creation of Phogenix Imaging, a Kodak/HP joint venture now producing digital inkjet minilabs.
"Digital imaging is my passion, and Kodak is the worldwide leader of the imaging industry," Perez said. "As the industry develops, Kodak will take advantage of the huge market opportunities available to companies that bridge the worlds of imaging and information technology for the benefit of customers. Those opportunities will be especially powerful in digital publishing, the printing of pictures in all their forms as well as image-rich marketing collateral documents."
"The know-how at Kodak from the company's patent portfolio to its understanding of image science is second to none," Perez said. "I am enthusiastically looking forward to joining their team to help Kodak further extend its imaging leadership into the digital imaging industry."
A native of Spain, Perez studied electronic engineering, marketing and business in Spain and France. He has held positions in management, sales, marketing, manufacturing and research and development during his career, and lived with his family in five different countries while working with both consumers and commercial customers. Perez plans to relocate with his family to the Rochester area, where Kodak is headquartered.
Kodak also announced that Martin M. Coyne II, Executive Vice President and Group Executive of the company's Photography Group, will retire from the company.
"Marty Coyne made a number of significant contributions during his 16-year career at Kodak, including growing our Health Imaging business to be our second largest business, leading the successful digital conversion of our commercial imaging businesses and tightening the integration of our Photography Group," Carp said. "We thank him for those contributions, and wish him well in his retirement."
Reporting to Perez will be: Daniel P. Palumbo, President of Consumer Imaging products and services; Karen A. Smith-Pilkington, President of Kodak Professional products and services; Willy C. Shih, President of Digital & Applied Imaging products and services; Eric G. Rodli, President of Entertainment Imaging products and services; Carl A. Marchetto, President of Commercial Imaging; Charles S. Brown, Jr., Director of Global Manufacturing & Logistics; James C. Stoffel, in his capacity as Director of Research & Development; Carl E. Gustin, Jr., Chief Marketing Officer.
In addition, Henri D. Petit, Chairman and President of Kodak's Greater Asia Region (GAR), will continue in that role and will also be responsible for the worldwide regional infrastructure and will report to Perez. In this capacity, Yoshikazu Hori, President of Kodak Japan Ltd.; Alain H. Popelard, Chairman of Eastman Kodak S.A. (Europe, Africa, Middle East Region); and Alan Witrock, Regional Operations Manager for the Latin America Region, will report to Petit.
Reporting to Carp will be Perez; Robert H. Brust, Chief Financial Officer; Daniel I. Kerpelman, President of the Health Imaging Group; Bernard Masson, President of the Display Group; Michael P. Morley, Chief Administrative Officer; James C. Stoffel, in his capacity as Chief Technical Officer; and Daniel T. Meek, in his capacity as Corporate Kodak Operating System Director. In addition, John J. Chiazza, General Manager, Global Integrated Supply Chain, will report to Meek. |
