An article published in the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle is getting a lot of buzz at drupa this morning. The paper published comments from an internal memo Kodak co-President Philip Faraci sent company-wide on the company’s success at drupa.
Faraci is quoted stating:
“Visitors are not just coming to see what we have to offer, they are coming to buy. By day two, we were at 30 percent of our Drupa sales goal — and by day four, we had reached more than 60 percent.”
WhatTheyThink spoke with Chris Payne, VP Marketing for Commercial Business this morning about the leaked memo. The official line from Kodak is the company does not release trade shows financial performance. While not confirming or denying the results published by the D&C, Payne made it clear the company is pleased with results at drupa.
Discussion
By Chuck Gehman on May 10, 2012
The only explanation I would find credible would be they leaked it intentionally to generate buzz. Which they desperately need. A lot of very strong competition for them, there at Drupa.
By Gordon Pritchard on May 10, 2012
I think Chuck's comment is spot on. Also, saying that a company has achieved 60% of its sales goal without stating what the sales target was is meaningless. Set your targets low enough and it becomes easy to achieve a high percentage.
By Joseph Manos on May 10, 2012
I agree wit both comments by Chuck and Gordon. I just returned from Drupa and was in the partner section of the HP booth. The traffic in the HP booth with all of their new product was wall-to-wall the seven days I was at the show.
I visited the Kodak booth and by comparison while they were busy it was maybe 50% of the traffic that I viewed at the HP booth.
Comparing the two product lines HP has ten times the product foot print of Kodak so the activity and results should be greater.
By Andrew Tribute on May 11, 2012
What a load of cynics you are and you probably have not checked out the facts. I have been around much more of the show than probably any of you over the past week and have spoken with so many people. The busiest stands at the show that I saw were Landa, Heidelberg, HP and then Kodak. These were not just one visit observations but many visits. I have spoken with Kodak customers and found many were there buying Kodak equipment. I can assure you that Kodak were continuously busy and taking orders and that Phil Faraci was correct in his comments.
By Chuck Gehman on May 14, 2012
Gee whiz, they've given us some really good reasons to by cynical, haven't they?
Andy, it is a tiny bit presumptuous to say you seen more of the show, but I'll give you that.
To the point, how will we really know if this leaked report is true? Is Kodak still making SEC filings, or will we need to dig through bankruptcy court papers to determine whether they actually sold anything at the show?
By Rossitza Sardjeva on May 15, 2012
The truth is that Kodak had not expressed anything new except "Sonora" precessless plate........
Discussion
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