News

Long lines, rising profits at photo kiosks

March 17, 2005

New York Times: According to some photo kiosk owners, the big problem they face is no longer getting people to use the machines; rather, it is how to cope with the long lines that form. "A real issue now is lines," said Bing Liem, president of Agfa Photo, noting that a growing number of retailers have multiple kiosks. Some Costco stores have six. Kiosks are also appearing in convenience stores, in maternity wards and on cruise ships. Eastman Kodak, which now has 15,000 Picture Maker digital printing kiosks in the United States, expects to ship 5,000 to 10,000 more this year. Those figures do not include Kodak's older print-to-print Picture Maker machines, which the company says it has ceased distributing. Some of its new machines will include scanners, but the trend at Kodak and other kiosk makers is in a different direction: equipping the units to accept images from camera phones, now that some, like the 1.3-megapixel Sony Ericsson S700i, take pictures good enough to print. Click here to read the full story (free registration required).