Word: sx
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...lens of his camera peeking out between two buttons of his coat. In Chicago he took an almost fixed stance, photographing people on one street corner. On the subways he had no idea how he was framing his subjects. Even in his latest color portraits with the Potaroid SX 70 he allowed his subjects to look as they wished, although he built filters and played with exposure until he acquired perfect technical control...
...does not have much of a background as a manager despite his many years at Polaroid. An M.I.T.-trained engineer, he helped Land develop the first instant-picture camera in the 1940s. Lately his main job has been to work out the problems that still bedevil production of the SX-70, Polaroid's revolutionary instant-color camera, and have cut deeply into the company's earnings. Unlike Wyman, McCune is not the sort to chafe at Land's tight grip. He has said in the past that he accepts Land's managerial motto...
Actually, the sales picture on the SX-70 is at worst a mixture of lights and shadows. The camera certainly cannot be called a flop; since it belatedly went into nationwide distribution last fall, more than 700,000 have been sold, an exceptionally big number for a high-priced new camera. The catch is that almost all sales are being made at discounts, some as deep as $65 below the list price of $180. Since stores buy the camera for $120 (less an $8 rebate for each one they sell), the SX-70 generates a slim retail profit at best...
Polaroid is not yet making much profit from the new camera. Indeed, between 1969 and 1973, the company's sales rose from $522 million to $701 million, but profits dropped from $71 million to $52 million, largely because of the heavy costs of SX-70 development...
...company says it has passed the break-even point on SX-70 manufacturing costs and that the brisk retail pace of the SX-70 lately accounted for much of a first-quarter sales rise of 8% to $147 million. Still, earnings on SX-70 sales were not great enough to offset a sales decline in Polaroid's older and profitable Colorpack line; first-quarter earnings dipped to $10 million from $11 million a year earlier...