News

Speed is the killer for Polaroid kiosks

May 18, 2003

In a crowded photo kiosk market, Polaroid executives are counting on their product's faster speed to provide a competitive advantage with retailers.

Polaroid's chances of making an impact in the growing market for photo kiosks is "as good as anyone else's," according to senior analyst Ed Lee of Lyra Research, quoted in theBoston Herald.

Polaroid's machine prints digital photos in two seconds. According to Lee, the quality of the Polaroid prints rivals that of competitors Kodak, Mitsubishi, Fuji and Sony. "The print quality coming off those devices I think at this moment is better than Polaroid, but they're close," Lee said.

Polaroid's launch was originally planned two years ago but was delayed when the company filed for bankruptcy in October 2001. Subsequently its software and imaging partner, Gretag Imaging Inc., went bankrupt as well. Chicago-based Bank One Corp. bought Polaroid in 2002.

Polaroid has installed seven kiosks in Boston-area camera shops, according to the newspaper. They carry a $20,000 price tag. The retailers charge a base rate of 79 cents per print, with the price dropping to 39 cents in quantities of 20 or more. Meanwhile, the paper reported that Kodak's PictureMaker is installed in 22,000 locations, and Sony announced a deal recently to install its version in 800 Kinko's stores.

Polaroid's Bob Barton, director of marketing for the instant printing technology, said he wasn't concerned about falling behind the rivals. "We're at the very beginning of the marketplace today. If we put them in stores a year ago, we probably would have been ahead of the curve," he said.