Kodak Shutting Down It's Inkjet Printers

Last month Lexmark announced that it was shutting down all inkjet printer R&D and manufacturing over the next three years due to the very thin margins involved. Now, Kodak has announced it is also struggling in the cutthroat market and will exit the consumer inkjet printer business entirely.

Kodak has already exited the digital camera market, and with printers disappearing from store shelves you’ll be hard pressed to find a Kodak consumer product before long. Anyone using Kodak inkjet printers need not worry though, as Kodak intends to continue supporting products with ink and honoring guarantees. However, we won’t see any new printer models appearing and existing stock of printer hardware should disappear at some point next year.

Kodak’s reasons for doing this are similar to Lexmark’s. The market and profits just aren’t there anymore, and Kodak specifically points to mobile devices and sending, rather than printing pictures, being a major factor. Consumers just don’t print anywhere near as much as they used to.

No consumer inkjet printers means 200 more jobs are disappearing at the company. However, Kodak will continue to play a part in the printing business, but focusing on commercial printing only.There will be an ongoing need for consumer printers, but the market will continue to get shrink to the point where, if you want some images printed out you’ll probably just go visit a printing booth rather than using a printer you own.