Kodak gives Prosper update and launches 20 new products

Kodak (5-F09) has given an update on the sale of its Prosper inkjet business and launched 20 new products, including the NexPress ZX digital production colour presses.

The US-headquartered firm announced plans in March to sell its Prosper business. At its Drupa press conference, Kodak president of enterprise inkjet systems Philip Cullimore said: “We've had significant interest from companies all around the world who recognise the opportunity that access to our technology would give them.

“We've received very positive feedback on both the current Stream technology and most particularly on the advantages we bring to the market with Ultrastream.”

Ultrastream, which Kodak is debuting at Drupa, is the company's next-generation inkjet technology. Built on its continuous inkjet Stream technology, Kodak said Ultrastream would “move production inkjet into the mainstream of commercial printing and packaging”.

Cullimore said: “We're in the process of sorting through initial bids via our investment banking team and Drupa will be a crucial time as these seriously interested parties can get a chance to dig even more deeply into our technology. We hope that as we head towards the end of the year we can talk about the conclusion of this process.”

Kodak chief executive Jeff Clarke said Prosper was growing strongly before the announcement of the sale and has seen even stronger growth since.

“We were really open with our customers about the sale and they continue to buy. I think the transparency about the sale has been a very good move and the correct way for our customers,” he said.

The firm has also announced new OEM partnerships with Manroland Web Systems and Matti Technology to integrate Kodak Prosper Stream Inkjet technology.

Kodak said the new integrations would allow the two companies to take advantage of the Prosper inkjet lineheads' speed, low cost of ownership and reliability to move into new configurations and applications, including retail flyers, books and transactional documents.

Other Kodak Drupa product launches include the NexPress ZX3900 and ZX3300 digital production colour presses, NexPress Opaque White Dry Ink and the Flexcel NX System '16, an integrated flexo plate production system including workflow, plates and imager.