There is no Kodak. Fuck whatever is calling itself Kodak today. Kodak died with Kodachrome in 2010.
Get over yourself. Kodachrome was an important product in its day, but it was never *ever* the be-all-and-end-all of Kodak.
I'm pretty sure that latterly the print films (Gold et al) massively outsold it, and the sad truth (from an apparent Kodak insider, "Rowland Mowrey") was that by the late-80s- even before Velvia came out, and long, *long* before digital was eating into it- photographers weren't interested in Kodachrome any more:-
EK had some seriously upgraded Kodachrome films in R&D in the 80s, and sent samples to various professionals at the time. This included the HS Kodachrome with an EI of 400.
NO ONE WANTED THEM!
Read that. NO ONE WANTED THEM. EK could not sell them. They wanted Ektachrome or color negative film. So, that is what they got.
Sorry, but I was there as it happened.
Look for my name on the patent for the yellow color developing agent. It is CD6. Been there, seen it happen. [..] People stopped buying right after the introduction of some serious upgrades to the entire film line, the ones you like right now. Then, when approached with further improvements in speed and grain, with no sacrifice in color, no one was interested.
Do you think EK develops a film and abandons it with no market research? How stupid do you think they are? Back in the 80s, they sent samples to professionals to test out before formal introduction. Reaction was blase. It was "we want Ektachrome, give us more". Remember, there was no Fuji Velvia at this time. The market was Kodachrome and Ektachrome vs Vericolor. So, the market in professionals and amateurs wanted Ektachrome, current Kodachrome, Vericolor, and Gold.
There you have it.
I don't agree either, but that is a fact.
None of what I (or he) said is to say that Kodachrome was a bad film, nor that Ektachrome was better- just that people didn't want it, and by the end clearly weren't buying it in quantities sufficient to justify manufacturing it and keeping even the final lab (for *all* Kodachrome processing worldwide) open.