Because their patents ran out before all the complementary technologies were economically feasible (and CMOS sensors were invented by someone else by that point

Because their patents ran out before all the complementary technologies were economically feasible (and CMOS sensors were invented by someone else by that point anyway). It's actually a terrible example of the disruption dilemma. Edit: And there was really no feasible transition path for them anyway. The business depended on skimming a little bit for every photo taken. The main selling point of digital cameras was that you could take unlimited photos at no extra cost. Customers aren't stupid. Even with patents, if you make the camera more expensive to account for the lost revenue on film and processing chemicals, people aren't going to buy it.