Polaroid Corporation
American film and camera company / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dear Wikiwand AI, let's keep it short by simply answering these key questions:
Can you list the top facts and stats about Polaroid Corporation?
Summarize this article for a 10 year old
Polaroid Corporation was an American company best known for its instant film and cameras, which now survives as a brand for consumer electronics. The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit the use of his Polaroid polarizing polymer.[1] Land and Polaroid created the first instant camera, the Land Camera, in 1948.[2]
Company type | Private |
---|---|
Industry | |
Founded | Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S.; 1937; 87 years ago (1937) |
Founder | Edwin H. Land |
Defunct | 2002 (2002) |
Fate | Brand sold to One Equity Partners; changed name to Primary PDC, Inc. |
Successor | Polaroid B.V. |
Headquarters | Minnetonka, Minnesota, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Products | |
Number of employees | 0 |
Land ran the company until 1981. Its peak employment was 21,000 in 1978, and its peak revenue was $3 billion in 1991.[3]
Polaroid Corporation was declared bankrupt in 2001;[4][5] its brand and assets were sold off.[6] A new Polaroid company formed,[4][6] and the brand assets changed hands multiple times before being sold to Polish billionaire Wiaczesław Smołokowski [pl] in 2017. This acquisition allowed Impossible Project, which had started producing instant films for older Polaroid cameras in 2008,[7] to rebrand as Polaroid Originals in 2017, and eventually as Polaroid in 2020.[8] Since the original company's downfall, Polaroid-branded products in other fields, such as LCD televisions and DVD players, have been developed and released by various licensees globally.[9][10]