PEOPLE have such an affinity in the Kodak brand that when news came out that it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, public reaction varied from sad to outright anger.

Luckily for us here in this side of the world—at least in the Asia-Pacific region—our Kodak moments will continue and hopefully, prosper.

Lois Lebegue, regional marketing manager for Eastman Kodak Company, explained that the bankruptcy filing will only affect the US and Europe operations. “It’s a bitter pill that we have to inevitably take,” said the Kodak executive who flew in recently to talk to partners about recent corporate moves.

“Kodak is undertaking moves to right-size. We have been undergoing restructuring for eight years. This latest move will allow us to look at the business and reorganize to make it more successful.”

Lebegue says unlike in the US and Europe, Kodak operations in the Asia-Pacific region is growing in double digits.

Kodak, the company largely credited with popularizing photography, will no longer make cameras. Instead it will shift its focus on digital photography printers and camera accessories. It hopes the move will save it a $100,000,000 a year. The company plans to phase out all of its cameras by the end of June. It also asked the US Bankruptcy Court to approve a move to get out of a naming rights contract with the famous 3,200-seat theaters that hosts the Oscar Awards and American Idol finals.

The move, if approved by the court, would be the latest in a series of cuts Kodak has made in recent years to what used to be a far more active stable of sponsorships.

Recovery, Lebegue said, will focus on Kodak’s printing and enterprise businesses.

The Kodak executive said the printing segment includes consumer product such as inkjet printers, licensing partnerships and end-user solutions. “Kodak’s inkjet printer business is growing,” he said, these mainly target the mainstream market. The digital printing business will also make us grow. We will be there to help clients make, manage and share information.”

Unknown to many, Kodak has been partnering with other solutions providers to grow its enterprise business. In the Philippines, it linked up with Unisys for the National Statistics Office’s documentation program. Other major clients include Maybank, HSBC Corp., the Hong Kong government, Japan’s national assembly, to name a few.

He said Kodak’s business has changed so much over the last 10 years. “We’re not yet dead. In fact we continue to grow. We have to admit this will be a hard journey in these tough times.”

The Kodak executive said “business conditions are normal. The Chapter 11 filing has allowed us to restructure our operations. We are continuing with customer support, as well as honor existing warranties.”

The bankruptcy filing listed assets of $5.1 billion and debts of $6.75 billion. As of a year ago, the company had 18,800 employees. The worldwide figure is now 17,000, about 8,000 of them in the US. At its peak in the early 1980s, the company employed 62,000 people in Rochester and 130,000 worldwide.

Contrary to reports that the company will sell all its patents, Lebegue said Kodak will sell only 10 percent of its patents, mainly on technologies that “we don’t see that we need to own patents. We will retain the remaining 90 percent.” Even then, he pointed out that Kodak will retain the privilege to use technologies used in the sold patent, “if we deem it fit.”

Lebegue is excited about the new possibilities in the publishing business. He noted that a project in Japan’s review schools allows them to customize reviewers for each and every student. As a result, Kodak publishes 800 million pages every month, each one according to specifications required by a particular student.

He said this technology may be applied in books, newspapers and magazines. “Pretty soon, we can publish magazines and newspapers for each and every subscriber.”

He said despite all the buzz on e-Books. “These only account for a small fraction of the market. There will always be opportunities for mega-printing jobs, particularly in books.”

Kodak, he pointed out, has developed technologies that allow offset and digital printing at the lower price possible.

He also sees a big demand on print-on-demand projects. “Statistics have shown that 40 percent of the published books are never read and sold. Print on demand allows printers and publishers to be more cost-effective, not to mention earth friendly.”

Print on demand by Kodak is currently available in two countries in Asia and Lebegue sees this rolling out to the rest of the region, including the Philippines, this year.

Photo kiosks will also be a mainstay in the region. However, Lebegue says the company is considering adding service offerings of kiosks to drive consumption as well as consider new geographies such as convenient stores.

Lebegue expects Asia to drive the growth and recovery of the company. “Total revenue is growing year-on-year despite the earthquake in Japan and the flooding in Thailand. Countries of interest include China, the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia, including Indonesia and Vietnam. “Digital printing is growing and doing very well in these countries,” he said.

“We have a good market. We are in the right position and we have very good partners and technical teams in this region,” Lebegue said. “We are growing according to or even higher than what is expected of the region.”

Waxing sentimental, the Kodak executive said “we will still have many more Kodak moments together.”