At the beginning “instant film” was Polaroid’s middle name. But time slips by and technology has been evolving so fast, that Polaroid eventually decided it was time to leave behind instant film and the technology it pioneered a long time ago. Digital photography made instant film become obsolete, and this is why Polaroid was forced to leave it behind.

So, in this context, the company announced this week that it would close its factories in Netherlands, Mexico and Massachusetts, in a move that would cut no less than 450 jobs. Polaroid said that it would further focus on ventures such as Polaroid-branded digital camera, DVD players and televisions and others. Polaroid stopped making instant cameras over the past 2 years.

After these new closures, Polaroid will remain with only 150 employees at its Concord headquarters and a site in Waltham. Back in 1978, Polaroid had about 21,000 employees worldwide.

"We're trying to reinvent Polaroid so it lives on for the next 30 to 40 years," said the company’s president, chief operating officer and chief financial officer, Tom Beaudoin. Until recently, Polaroid believed that its traditional photography products would last forever and that professional photographers would always choose them over digital technology.
But it seems the company was wrong, as global sales of traditional cameras have been continually dropping. “And I’ve got to believe instant film has been falling as fast if not faster,” said a digital photography analyst at InfoTrends, Ed Lee.

Now, Japan’s Fujifilm will remain the only major company making instant film.