Agfa aims to be 'last man standing' as Konica withdraws from film market

Agfa has come one step closer to its goal of global film domination after Konica Minolta announced that it would not fill orders for imagesetter film after March 2009.

Konica Minolta, whose film clients include News Corp-subsidiary Dow Jones & Co, is understood to have had at least 50% of the US market share for imagesetter film.

Agfa Graphics' North America marketing director Susan Wittner said that Agfa had no planned cut-off date for the supply of film, which she described as "a very valuable area" for the company.

Agfa is understood to control the bulk of the film market in the UK, although it is still in competition with Fujifilm.

UK managing director Laurence Roberts said: "We want to be last man standing, so this can only help us. It doesn't affect the UK, which is virtually Konica-free, but in the US it will have an impact.

"You'd be amazed how long these technologies take to die. It is quite surprising how much film is still used and how long the tail is sometimes to technology. If you can be the last man it's good business."