Kodak IM5 Android smartphone with 13 MP back camera, 5 MP front camera, and octa-core processor available in EU end of Q1 for €229, later in US for $249
Sarah Mitroff / CNET :
Context & Ripple Effects
The IM5 delivers on the [[a:824882|CES teaser that promised a Kodak-branded Android phone plus later tablet, camera, and 4G handsets]]: a midrange octa-core device whose selling point is the 13 MP rear / 5 MP front camera pairing under a name synonymous with photography. Pricing lands it squarely against camera-forward midrangers like the selfie-focused Oppo F1, which sells in Europe for €230.
It is also the opening move of a two-year arc: the same licensed-hardware playbook returns in 2016 when Kodak announces the Bullitt-designed Ektra at nearly twice the price, showing the brand strategy escalating from entry-level badge deal toward a dedicated camera-phone line.
First-order effects
- Kodak's name re-enters consumer hardware via a €229 EU / $249 US smartphone, putting its imaging brand directly on shelves against spec-comparable midrange Androids from Oppo and others.
- Buyers in Europe get the phone first at end of Q1, with the US waiting longer — a launch sequencing that makes Europe the test market for whether the Kodak label moves units.
Second-order effects
- Rivals competing at the same price point are pushed to treat camera specifications as the headline feature rather than processor or display, since that is the axis the Kodak brand attacks.
- A successful IM5 gives the unnamed manufacturing partner proof that licensed legacy-camera brands can carry premium pricing, clearing the path for the pricier Ektra follow-up.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, commoditized Android hardware increasingly differentiates through rented heritage brands — imaging names licensing their credibility onto ODM-built phones rather than building devices themselves.
The trend: Legacy camera brands are licensing their names onto commodity Android phones, using photographic heritage as the differentiator in a specs-saturated midrange market.