Like Polaroid film? Better start hoarding
The Massachusetts company is winding down its instant-film business, closing four plants by the end of the year.
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Polaroid, famed for photographic prints that develop within moments, is getting out of the film business.
The company is shutting down two plants in Massachusetts used to make film for professionals and artists this quarter, The Boston Globe reported Friday. A similar plant in Mexico and one in the Netherlands for making consumer film packages will close by the end the year, and the company already has stopped making instant-film cameras, Polaroid said.
The Massachusetts-based company is interested in licensing its film technology to others, but if it doesn't happen, its film will likely run out in 2009. Meanwhile, Polaroid is making a go of selling flat-panel TVs and digital photography.