of reorganization to comply with wikipedia s layout guidelines . please help by editing the article to make improvements to the overall structure . february 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message polaroid corporation type private industry photo consumer electronics licensing founded cambridge massachusetts united states ; 1937 ; 79 years ago 1937 founder edwin h. land headquarters minnetonka minnesota u.s. area served worldwide key people scott w. hardy ceo products digital cameras instant cameras action cameras instant film parent plr ip holdings llc website polaroid.com 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 . 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 itself declared bankruptcy in 2008 resulting in a further sale and the present day polaroid corporation . contents 1 overview 2 polaroid s growth under its founder 3 bankruptcy and the new polaroid corporation 3.1 chapter 11 controversy 3.2 use of polaroid brand following bankruptcy 3.3 auction for polaroid corporation s assets 4 other ventures 4.1 corporate sponsorship of motorsports 4.2 discontinuation and planned relaunch of polaroid film 4.3 mobile printers 4.4 digital photography 4.5 wideblue 5 see also 6 references 7 external links 7.1 official websites 7.1.1 spinoffs 7.2 articles 7.3 archives and records overview edit polaroid s initial dominant market was in polarized sunglasses spawned from edwin h. land s self guided research in light polarization . land having completed his freshman year at harvard university left to pursue this market resulting in polaroid s birth . land later returned to harvard to continue his research . citation needed polaroid developed an instant movie system polavision based on the dufaycolor process . the product arrived on the market when videotape based systems were rapidly gaining popularity . as a result polavision was unsuccessful and most of the manufactured products were sold off as a job lot at great cost to the company . the underlying technology of polavision was later improved for use in the polachrome instant slide film system . citation needed the company also was one of the early manufacturers of digital cameras with the pdc 2000 in 1996 ; 6 however they failed to capture a large market share in that segment . they also made 35 mm and multi format scanners such as polaroid spiritscan 4000 35 mm scanner 7 the first scanner with a 4000 dpi ccd in 1999 and the polaroid printscan 120 in 2000 . the scanners received mixed reviews and saw heavy competition from nikon and minolta products . the entire line was discontinued when polaroid entered bankruptcy in 2001 . citation needed on october 11 2001 polaroid corporation filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection . almost all the company s assets including the polaroid name itself synonymous with instant photographs were sold to a subsidiary of bank one . they went on to form a new company which also operates under the name polaroid corporation . 8 it stopped making polaroid cameras in 2007 and discontinued the sale of polaroid film after 2009 to the dismay of loyal consumers . 9 10 the renamed old polaroid now exists solely as an administrative shell . 3 polaroid s bankruptcy is widely attributed to the failure of senior management unable to anticipate the impact of digital cameras on its film business . 11 this type of managerial failure is also known as the success trap . citation needed on december 18 2008 the post reorganization polaroid corp. filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in u.s. bankruptcy court for the district of minnesota . the bankruptcy filing came shortly after the criminal investigation of its parent company petters group worldwide and the parent company founder tom petters . 12 on january 5 2010 polaroid appointed lady gaga as creative director for the company . 13 a press release stated that she would be the new face of polaroid . 14 since march 2010 instant film materials for vintage polaroid cameras have again become available on the market developed and manufactured by a group called the impossible project at the former polaroid production plant in enschede netherlands . 15 16 polaroid s growth under its founder edit the original polaroid corporation was founded in cambridge massachusetts by edwin land in 1937 . described by the boston globe as a juggernaut of innovation in many respects polaroid was the apple of its time with a leader in edwin land a scientist who guided the company as the founding ceo for four decades . 1 polaroid owning patents to its polarizer technology got its start by employing polarization in products that included 3 d movies and glare reducing goggles for dogs . during world war ii polaroid designed and manufactured numerous products for the armed services including an infrared night viewing device . land s name appears on 533 us patents second only to thomas edison s 1 093 . he led the company as ceo for 43 years he headed the polaroid corporation developing it from a small research and marketing firm into one of the best known high tech companies ever . kodak was a customer for some of land s polarizing products . recognized by most as the father of instant photography he included all the operations of a darkroom inside the film itself . land was pictured on the cover of life magazine in 1972 with the inscription a genius and his magic camera . when kodak announced instant film cameras in 1976 polaroid announced they were suing them accusing kodak of having stolen its patented instant photography process . 1 in the two years that followed the lawsuit total sales of instant cameras climbed from 7.4 million cameras in 1976 to 10.3 million in 1977 and 14.3 million in 1978 . the suit in federal court lasted 10 years . polaroid asked for 12 billion for infringements of its patents by kodak . the court ruled in favor of polaroid and ordered kodak to cease instant picture production plus pay polaroid 909.5 million of the 2 billion it had asked for . 1 in 1977 land introduced the polaroid instant home movie camera named polavision . however it failed to sell well in retail stores and has been described as the swan song for polaroid . after four decades as chairman edwin land was coerced to resign and leave the corporation he had founded . he died in 1991 . the polavision debacle eventually caused the company to write off 89 million . 1 in the 1980s polaroid tried to reinvent itself without land at its helm by shifting away from a dependence on consumer photography a market which was in steady decline . polaroid was forced to make wholesale changes that included having to fire thousands of workers and close many factories . the 1990s saw the advent of new technologies that profoundly changed the world of photography one hour color film processing single use cameras from competitors videotape camcorders and digital cameras . 1 bankruptcy and the new polaroid corporation edit chapter 11 controversy edit the original polaroid corporation filed for federal bankruptcy protection on october 11 2001 . the outcome was that within ten months most of the business including the polaroid name itself 4 and non bankrupt foreign subsidiaries had been sold to bank one s one equity partners oep . oep imaging corporation then changed its name to polaroid holding company phc . 17 5 however this new company operates using the name of its bankrupt predecessor polaroid corporation . 8 significant criticism surrounded this takeover because the process left executives of the company with large bonuses while stockholders as well as current and retired employees were left with nothing . the company announced a plan that gave the top 45 executives bonuses just for staying at their jobs . meanwhile other employees were restricted from selling their stock before leaving their jobs . 1 31 as part of the settlement the original polaroid corporation changed its name to primary pdc inc. 3 17 having sold its assets it was now effectively nothing more than an administrative shell . primary pdc received approximately 35 percent of the new polaroid which was to be distributed to its unsecured creditors 17 including bondholders . 18 as of late 2006 update primary pdc remained in existence under chapter 11 bankruptcy protection 4 but conducts no commercial business and has no employees . 5 use of polaroid brand following bankruptcy edit after the bankruptcy the polaroid brand was licensed for use on other products with the assistance of skadden arps slate meagher & flom . in september 2002 world wide licenses a subsidiary of the character group plc was granted the exclusive rights for three years to manufacture and sell digital cameras under the polaroid brand for distribution internationally . 19 polaroid branded lcds and plasma televisions and portable dvd players had also appeared on the market . on april 27 2005 petters group worldwide announced its acquisition of phc . petters has in the past bought up failed companies with well known names for the value of those names . the same year flextronics purchased polaroid s manufacturing operations and the decision was made to send most of the manufacturing to china . 20 the new polaroid corporation filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on december 18 2008 . 21 that year polaroid announced that the company would stop producing analog instant film . auction for polaroid corporation s assets edit on april 2 2009 patriarch partners won an auction for polaroid corporation s assets including the company s name intellectual property and photography collection . patriarch s 59.1 million bid beat bids from phc acquisitions hilco consumer capital corp and ritchie capital . this led to some very contentious fighting and litigation and patriarch wound up walking away in early may 2009 and a joint venture between gordon brothers brands llc and hilco consumer capital lp picked up the pieces . quoting from a reuters report which quoted some participants the move by new york based patriarch a private equity firm to drop their claim follows us district judge james rosenbaum s ruling on thursday in minneapolis that putting the purchase on hold during appeal would threaten operations at polaroid which is spending its cash at a rate of 3 million a month . on april 16 2009 polaroid won us bankruptcy court approval to be sold to a joint venture of hilco consumer capital lp of toronto and gordon brothers brands llc of boston . 22 hilco consumer capital and gordon brothers brands announced the closing of the purchase of polaroid corporation on may 7 2009 placing polaroid corporation in joint holding under a parent company named plr ip holdings llc . former executive vice president and general manager americas scott w. hardy was named as the new president of polaroid corporation and plr ip holdings llc . the majority of employees remained in their positions at the company s minnetonka minnesota headquarters as well as office locations in boston new york and toronto . 23 on june 19 2009 the new holding corporation for polaroid plr ip holdings llc announced an exclusive 5 year agreement with summit global group to produce and distribute polaroid branded digital still cameras digital video cameras digital photo frames and pogo branded mobile products . summit global group added several former polaroid employees to