Kodak’s new bet is the blind-box boom as it faces doubts over its survival

Kodak just had its own (brief) Kodak moment. Last week, the 133-year-old film icon — once so dominant that its name stood for a memory worth capturing — released a $29.99 retro digital camera that sold out within days. 

The new palm-sized “Charmera” comes in a blind box — meaning you won’t know which of the seven ’80s-inspired designs you get until you open it — tapping into younger consumers’ love of all things retro and mystery-fueled.

That’s a rare win for the company. Last month, Kodak reported a $26 million net loss for Q2, reversing from a profit a year earlier, warning that looming debt raises “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating. Shares tumbled as much as 25%, though Kodak later clarified it has no plans to shut down or file for bankruptcy.

In its heyday, Kodak was everywhere: in the 1970s, it commanded 90% of US film sales and 85% of camera sales, with revenues peaking at nearly $16 billion in 1996. 

Ironically, the company that invented the world’s first digital camera in 1975 missed the wave decades later. Executives feared a digital pivot would undercut Kodak’s lucrative film business, and kept doubling down on printing instead. As consumers shifted to digital cameras and then smartphones, film demand collapsed. Kodak was dropped from the Dow in 2004 after 78 years, filed for bankruptcy in 2012, and now generates just ~$1 billion in annual revenue, a fraction of its peak.

Think inside the box

Since reemerging as a smaller firm, Kodak has tested everything — from smartphones to crypto to pharma to apparel — over the past decade to stay relevant. Its latest move is tapping into the blind-box boom: just this year, Pop Mart’s viral Labubu doll helped catapult the toy maker into a $44 billion juggernaut, while cult hits like Sonny Angel figurines and even Duolingo’s blind-box owl collectibles show how far the craze has spread.