Kodak exits digital camera market

Some people say Kodak failed because it did not pursue digital photography aggressively enough.

That might have been 20x20 hindsight in 2005 or maybe even as late as 2010.

But today?

Digital cameras and camcorders are money-losers or at best barely profitable at all.  Nikon and Canon (don't forget its printers!) are holding on, but profits are down.  The others look a lot like Kodak or worse, except that they don't have a film or print business to fall back on.

It's fairly easy to predict that, come 2015, there will be fewer traditional companies that make P&S cameras and fewer P&S models.  Whether the firms can make money on higher-end cameras is a tougher thing to predict.  Some may, but only with high prices that cater to a niche that pays high prices.  There may also be some firms that buy up the Olympus, Pentax, Sigma, or other traditional "names" to market stuff.   Sony may survive as an entertainment production company or sell insurance.  Panasonic will continue to make industrial products and some appliances.

Curiously, printed film images will not become altogether obsolete.  There are still some things smart phones don't do well, at least not yet.