Digital cameras very quickly became a commodity. The underlying technology is very scalable and it is harder to distinguish oneself in this space. I think a mo

Digital cameras very quickly became a commodity. The underlying technology is very scalable and it is harder to distinguish oneself in this space. I think a more apt analogy is film vs. CCD, rather than film camera vs. digital camera. Kodak was a films company, not necessarily a camera company. In that sense, Kodak is (was?) a manufacturing company, with strength in manufacturing films, etc. Would Kodak have the same competitive advantages if it switched to manufacturing CCD arrays? Probably not... The nature of the sensors are so different. In hindsight, they probably lost the game much before the advent of digicams. Some decision at some point in 1970s or 1980s, Kodak executives/management probably decided against diversifying. Edit: Sure enough, found an article that talks about how Fujifilm continues to thrive: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052970203750404577170481473958516 http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB100014240529702037504045771704... Answer: Diversification. Quoting the article: > What Fujifilm did was to look further than simply moving to digital photography from analog. Instead, the company tapped its chemical expertise for broader uses, such as drugs and liquid-crystal display panels. Cosmetics, as well: It seems the process for stopping photos from fading can be used on skin, too. > "The most decisive factor [for our success] was how drastically we were able to transform our businesses when digitalization occurred," Mr. Komori said. What set Fujifilm apart from Kodak, he said, was the Japanese company's effort to branch out by employing technologies originally developed for photography. > And one of Fujifilm's latest endeavors is cosmetics—it has its own Astalift skin-care line—that use antioxidation technology for preventing photos from fading. >The company also has spent ¥650 billion since 2000 to acquire health-care companies. Fujifilm acquired midsize drug maker Toyama Chemical Co. for $1.4 billion in 2008 and last month agreed to buy U.S. medical-equipment maker SonoSite Inc. for $995 million.