The last Kodak moment 柯达的最后时刻.doc

Technological change科技进步The last Kodak moment?柯达的最后时刻？Kodak is at death’s door; Fujifilm, its old rival, is thriving. Why?死神已经站在柯达的门口；柯达的老对手富士胶片却蒸蒸日上，为什么？LENIN is said to have sneered that a capitalist will sell you the rope to hang him. The quote may be spurious, but it contains a grain of truth. Capitalists quite often invent the technology that destroys their own business.据说，列宁曾嘲笑资本家会将绞死他自己的绳子卖给你。这听上去或许有些荒谬，但确实包含了一定的道理，资本家们经常发明出那些最终摧毁了他们自己事业的玩意。Eastman Kodak is a picture-perfect example. It built one of the first digital cameras in 1975. That technology, followed by the development of smartphones that double as cameras, has battered Kodak’s old film- and camera-making business almost to death.伊斯曼-柯达就是一个完美的例子。柯达于1975年制造出了世界上第一台数码相机，这项技术以及随后拍照智能手机的发展，现在已经将柯达传统的胶片和相机制造业务冲击得奄奄一息。Strange to recall, Kodak was the Google of its day. Founded in 1880, it was known for its pioneering technology and innovative marketing. “You press the button, we do the rest,” was its slogan in 1888.回忆起来，这确实很奇怪，柯达在它春风得意的年代里就像如今的Google。创立于1880年，柯达以开创性技术和创新型营销而著称，其在1888年的口号是“你只需按下按钮，其他的交给我们。”By 1976 Kodak accounted for 90% of film and 85% of camera sales in America. Until the 1990s it was regularly rated one of the world’s five most valuable brands.1976年柯达占据了美国胶片和相机市场分别占据了90%和85%的份额。直到1990年代，柯达长期位于世界最有价格品牌的前五之列。Then came digital photography to replace film, and smartphones to replace cameras. Kodak’s revenues peaked at nearly $16 billion in 1996 and its profits at $2.5 billion in 1999. The consensus forecast by analysts is that its revenues in 2011 were $6.2 billion. It recently reported a third-quarter loss of $222m, the ninth quarterly loss in three years. In 1988, Kodak employed over 145,000 workers worldwide; at the last count, barely one-tenth as many. Its share price has fallen by nearly 90% in the past year (see chart).之后，数码摄影技术开始取代胶片，智能手机开始代替相机。柯达于1996年达到收入峰值，大约为160亿美元，利润峰值则为1999的25亿美元，而根据多数分析师预测，其2011年收入大约为62亿美元。最近，柯达公告了第三季度亏损，为2.22亿美元，这是三年内的第九次季度亏损。1988年，柯达在全