Kodak's first smartphone. Will Canon follow?

[Perio]

Kodak has announced a release of its first IM5 Android smartphone with 13 MPx camera rear camera. Seems like a simple to use phone and apparently it comes with quite attractive price of $249.

http://www.cnet.com/products/kodak-im5/

I was thinking about all conversations here on CR discussing how smartphones are stealing the market from P&S cameras. If Kodak starts selling smartphones, will Canon eventually do the same?

 

[sanj]

Cool. It would be nice if Canon did follow. I use my phone for calls/sms/and some emails. So a phone with a better camera than my Iphone would be something..

 

[arcanej]

A cheaper version of this by Canon would be awesome.

http://leicarumors.com/2015/01/05/now-you-can-buy-a-smartphone-with-a-leica-lens.aspx/

 

[pdirestajr]

Isn't it just some random tech company sourcing cheap crap from China and slapping the Kodak license on it? I doubt "Kodak" is doing much of anything.

 

[DominoDude]

I've had a hard time convincing my old Mom to get anywhere near a computer, let alone a cell phone, but I think it would be possible to make her use that Kodak smartphone.

If Canon have been smart it's something they have brought up at a board meeting, and written off before it created any serious costs. I don't think Canon has much need to get into the smartphone market - at least not with an entire phone. If they insist they would have to bring something that they do exceptionally well compared to all the others, or something that there would be/become a special demand for.

 

[Niki]

a great name ...Im still using their film and loving it...

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I doubt if Canon will put out a phone with their name on it sold by a no name company who procures them from a no name Chinese company. Even Sony won't do that.

Kodak's new devices— a 4G handset, a tablet, and a connected camera—will actually be made by Bullitt Group, while the Kodak company provides the name and caché. Bullitt's in a similar relationship with Caterpillar, which has a line of rugged Android devices.
If this sound vaguely familiar, it's because Polaroid has gone down this same road to little success, lending its name to a series of entirely unremarkable Android tablets. There's an outside chance these new Kodak devices might be worth a damn, but it's far more likely they'll just be sad reminders of how much those little yellow boxes used to mean to us.

So, Kodak Licenses the name to Bullitt Group which does not make anything either, just imports products with valuable brand names on them. I wonder who might repair one of these?

 

[captainkanji]

If it ran IOS, I'd consider one.

 

[rfdesigner]

Isn't it just some random tech company sourcing cheap crap from China and slapping the Kodak license on it? I doubt "Kodak" is doing much of anything.

I thought they went under, administrators then sold all the bits.. on going businesses, name and so on.

I know the sensor business got sold.

Who are Kodak these days?