Agfa made its name during the 1960s when in made film for cameras and then merged with the Geveart Co. to become Agfa-Geveart, an even larger major film manufacturing company. Today, Agfa has had to change and adapt to the new technologies. It has succeeded in this challenge by entering the graphics and health care fields.
History
Agfa began in the year 1867 in Germany as a company that manufactured dyes. It continued in this mold until 1925, when it began to expand into the developing field of color photography. At that time, Agfa manufactured both cameras and color film.
Merger
In 1964 Agfa merged with a Belgian firm Geveart, so it could expand and further develop its photographic manufacturing capabilities. During this period, the company grew as a film manufacturer.
Diversification and Change
The silver crisis of 1980-81 caused the price of the mineral to rise seven-fold, creating real problems for film manufacturing. It was at this time that Agfa-Gevaert started to diversify, laying the groundwork for the company that it is today.
Agfa-Geveart Today
Today Agfa-Gevaert is headquartered in Mortsel, Belgium, where it oversees operations in more than 40 countries. Agfa produces and markets analog and digital systems that are used by the health care and graphics industry. As of 2004 the Agfa photographic film, camera and optical products (such as slide projectors) were licensed to a holding company called AgaPhoto GmbH, which went bankrupt after one year.
Future Outlook
With more than 40 of its businesses involved in the design and development of printers for newspapers, Agfa-Gevaert has some reason to be concerned about the future. However, the other half of their business is in the health care market, which is more likely to be profitable. Overall, the company is holding its own with some prospects for improved profits.
Current Situation For AgfaPhoto
Although Agfa film products and digital cameras are still on the market, AgfaPhoto Holding GmbH is just a holding company, which sells licenses to other manufacturers to produce a line of products with the Agfa name on it. For example, plawa-feinwerktechnik GmbH & Co.KG, a German company, now makes the Agfa digital cameras and Sagem, a French company, makes a line of digital picture frames, also with the Agfa name on the final product.
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