Opinion ID: 368855
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Photofinishing Services and Photofinishing Equipment

Text: 17 Before 1954, Kodak's Color Print and Processing Laboratories (CP&P) had a nearly absolute monopoly of color photofinishing maintained by a variety of practices. Accounting for over 95% Of color film sales, Kodak sold every roll with an advance charge for processing included. Consumers had little choice but to purchase Kodak film, and in so doing they acquired the right to have that film developed and printed by CP&P at no further charge. Since few customers would duplicate their costs to procure the services of a non-Kodak photofinisher, Kodak was able to parlay its film monopoly to achieve equivalent market power in photofinishing. 9 18 This film/processing tie-in attracted the attention of the Justice Department, and in 1954 a consent decree changed the structure of the color photofinishing market drastically. Kodak was forbidden to link photofinishing to film sales, and it agreed to make its processing technology, chemicals, and paper available to rivals at reasonable rates. As a result, CP&P's share of the market plummeted from 96% In 1954 to 69% Two years later, and it has declined sharply ever since. In 1970, CP&P accounted for but 17% Of the market, and by 1976 its share reached a low of 10%. There are now approximately 600 independent photofinishers in the United States. 19 Berkey is one of the largest of these processors. It has been a photofinisher since 1933, but until 1954 its principal business was developing and printing black-and-white film. 10 In addition, Berkey purchased Kodak black-and-white film, which was sold without a processing tie-in, for resale to its photofinishing customers. After the 1954 decree, Berkey applied to Kodak for the appropriate licenses and in 1956 began to process significant amounts of color film. It now finishes more 126 and 110 color print film than does Kodak. 20 A variety of equipment is used to process film, and the Kodak Apparatus Division (KAD) designs and produces most of the machinery used by CP&P. Kodak also sells some equipment to other photofinishers, but this is an insignificant portion of its business; indeed, until the introduction of the 110 system, Kodak made still film processing equipment for its own use only. Several other firms supply photofinishing equipment to the rival processors, and Berkey does not contend that Kodak monopolized or attempted to monopolize this market.