Century-old photography pioneer Eastman Kodak has filed for bankruptcy.

The firm that once brought photography to the masses has finally succumbed to the explosion of digital technology.

Filing for bankruptcy is considered to be the Kodak's last chance of survival.

So what exactly has led to its Kodak's demise? And is it possible to salvage the brand?

Let's find out.

According to a statement by Eastman Kodak CEO Antonio Perez, the company filed for bankruptcy early Thursday.

Antonio Perez says the board of directors and the entire senior management team believe the bankruptcy is a necessary step for the future of Kodak.

The company hopes that the decision will give it time to reorganize its businesses to avoid being shut down entirely.

The company says it has secured 950 million U.S. dollars in financing from Citigroup to continue operating normally and paying employees during the bankruptcy process.

It adds foreign subsidiaries are not subject to the proceedings.

But the bankruptcy places the jobs of Kodak's 19,000 remaining employees in question.

The company hasn't ruled out the possibility of layoffs.

It also resolved to "fairly resolve legacy liabilities," which suggests that it may try to cut its retiree healthcare costs, estimated at 132 million dollars in 2011.

Kodak's shares were suspended on Thursday and the NYSE said it would be delisted in view of the bankruptcy filing.

Kodak shares have traded below one dollar since early December amid speculation over a possible bankruptcy filing.

Now, let's take a brief look at Kodak's history, and one analyst's opinions on why it failed.

After being registered by inventor George Eastman back in 1888, Kodak became a household name for generations.

It made photography accessible for the masses with the invention of handheld cameras.

For decades the company enjoyed a virtual monopoly on film, which provided high margins and a steady cash flow.

In 1981 Kodak sales broke 10 billion U.S. dollars, a level its competitors could only dream of.

But even while Kodak was enjoying market dominance, a new digital era was beginning.

Ironically Kodak claimed to have invented the digital photography, but the firm failed to capitalize on its innovations and ceded the market to camera manufacturers such as Nikon, Sony and Canon.

Robert Salomon, a professor from NYU's Stern School of Business, expresses his opinions on Kodak's fall.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ROBERT SALOMON, NYU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS:
"In Kodak's case, Kodak pinned all its hopes on the business of film. Unfortunately, when the digital revolution occurred, film became something that increasingly became obsolete. And as film began its path to obsolescence, Kodak missed the opportunity on several occasions to jump into the digital world. It first underestimated the impact that digital would have on its business and then it ignored what it might mean for its business. Once it tried to jump in it was far too late."

From 2000 to 2003, the profits of Kodak plummeted over 70 percent and its market share shrank dramatically.

Since 2005, Kodak has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into home photo printers, high-speed commercial inkjet presses, and software and package printing.

These were viewed as the firm's new core business, but they weren't enough to keep it afloat.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ROBERT SALOMON, NYU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS:
"It reacted by jumping into digital cameras, the digital camera business, the printer business and the digital photo business on the Internet side, putting in photo sharing services and photo printing services online. Unfortunately, the digital camera business is a low-margin business. It's not very profitable and there are a lot firms in there that are much more efficient than Kodak in producing that product. Same thing happened on the printer side. It's a low margin business and Kodak's skills just as in digital cameras, their capabilities in film didn't translate very well over to that business. And then finally, with respect to the digital photo sharing online, I think Kodak had some potential there. And it probably could have moved into that space had it done so earlier. Unfortunately, it waited too long and it was late to the game against players like Picasa -- which is a Google product -- Shutterfly and the like."

A series of painful restructurings failed to stem the company's decline.

Though Kodak had once been a leader of technological innovation, the paradigm shift to digital left it flat-footed.

Looking back at Kodak's long history, the firm dominated its industry for 80 percent of its lifetime until the last two decades.

However, history waits for nobody.

When photography technology ran switched from film to digital, Kodak didn't have the insight and most importantly, the courage to shift with it.

Instead the company hung onto its identity, film, and watched it fade before its eyes.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ROBERT SALOMON, NYU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS:
"Part of it is you need a visionary. Part of it is for a company like Kodak, they were too wedded in to the business of film and all the routines and the capabilities they developed were very film-centric. So even though they know that digital was coming and for 10 years they promised they were going to move into the digital space, the rigidity within the organization didn't allow them to break free from film and abandon it early enough to really enter that digital space in any meaningful way."

For a company living in a fiercely competitive environment, innovation should never be forgotten.

SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) ROBERT SALOMON, NYU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS:
"So the lesson for companies that are like Kodak. If you are an incumbent -- a strong, powerful incumbent in a particular industry -- what you want to do is constantly scan and explore new technologies. And as they come to fruition, as these new technologies start to enter the market, you don't want to wait too long, you want to be able to move rather flexibly into those new businesses on the early side."

Even in bankruptcy, Kodak still has some enviable strengths: a golden brand, technology firepower that includes a rich collection of photo patents, and more than 4 billion dollars in annual sales of digital cameras, printers, and inks.

The firms investors and fans alike are hoping these could bring the 132-year-old company back to life.