Uploaded July 2018 | Updated September 2026, 22 minutes ago
Polaroid is an American company that is a brand licensor and marketer of its portfolio of consumer electronics to companies that distribute consumer electronics and eyewear. It is best known for its Polaroid instant film and cameras. In 2017, its parent company was acquired by Polish investor Oskar Smołokowski.
The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit the use of its Polaroid polarizing polymer.[1]:3 Land ran the company until 1981. Its peak employment was 21,000 in 1978, and its peak revenue was $3 billion in 1991.[2]
When the original Polaroid Corporation was declared bankrupt in 2001,[3][4] its brand and assets were sold off.[5] The "new" Polaroid formed as a result,[3][5] and itself declared bankruptcy in 2008, resulting in a further sale and in the present-day Polaroid Corporation. In May 2017, the brand and intellectual property of the Polaroid corporation were acquired by the largest shareholder of the Impossible Project, which had originally started out in 2008 by producing new instant films for Polaroid cameras.[6] The Impossible Project was renamed Polaroid Originals in September 2017.[7][8]
Polaroid is an American company that is a brand licensor and marketer of its portfolio of consumer electronics to companies that distribute consumer electronics and eyewear. It is best known for its Polaroid instant film and cameras. In 2017, its parent company was acquired by Polish investor Oskar Smołokowski.
The company was founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land, to exploit the use of its Polaroid polarizing polymer.[1]:3 Land ran the company until 1981. Its peak employment was 21,000 in 1978, and its peak revenue was $3 billion in 1991.[2]
When the original Polaroid Corporation was declared bankrupt in 2001,[3][4] its brand and assets were sold off.[5] The "new" Polaroid formed as a result,[3][5] and itself declared bankruptcy in 2008, resulting in a further sale and in the present-day Polaroid Corporation. In May 2017, the brand and intellectual property of the Polaroid corporation were acquired by the largest shareholder of the Impossible Project, which had originally started out in 2008 by producing new instant films for Polaroid cameras.[6] The Impossible Project was renamed Polaroid Originals in September 2017.[7][8]
