Kodak CEO Sees Big ‘Upside’ in Going It Alone on Copper Mesh Touch-Sensor Technology

Kodak’s decision last week to go it alone in developing copper mesh touch-sensor display technology after UniPixel terminated the joint development agreement the two companies shared since 2013 (see 1504280030) will require Kodak to “perform a comprehensive review of the market and sales opportunities for this technology,” CEO Jeffrey Clarke said Thursday on an earnings call. The copper mesh touch-sensor technology business “continues in its startup phase, where progress is harder to forecast than in Kodak's more established businesses,” Clarke said. The contract with UniPixel had a 90-day termination “notice period that we're 15 or 20 days into,” he said. The termination's “biggest impact” is that “nearly all the revenues will go to Kodak,” vs. the 50-50 split that would have been in place had the Kodak-UniPixel deal continued, he said. Kodak also “has complete control over the program now, and we'll reap all of the economic upside of the program, short of a modest royalty to UniPixel,” he said. "So it's very good news for Kodak from that perspective.” On the cost side, “we will need to purchase the equipment from UniPixel from the partnership,” Clarke said. Kodak also will need “to invest some additional resources on the go-to-market side,” he said. He gave no estimates of those costs.