Apple has no staff in Japan and its printers have a Japanese woodblock print company, according to people familiar with the matter.
Apple did not respond to requests for comment.
The move by Apple and Kodak is in response to a request from Kodak to provide its employees with an iPhone photo printer.
Kodak’s president and chief executive, Kenji Yoshikawa, said in a letter last week that he would be willing to provide the company’s employees with a Kodak iPhone photo printers, according a copy of the letter obtained by Reuters.
Kodaks printers are currently in the process of being upgraded to the iPhone 4, the people said.
Kodak’s announcement comes as other major technology companies have begun to expand their presence in Japan, particularly the film, TV, and music industries.
KDDI is one of the biggest names in those industries, with offices in Tokyo, Osaka, and Nagoya.
The company, which has factories in Fukuoka and Sapporo, is also expanding its Japan operations.
Apple has a strong presence in the film industry, producing over 1,200 movies a year, according the American Film Institute, and has produced more than 100 films, many of them for the Japanese film market.
The iPhone photo print business is one way that Apple hopes to leverage its presence in film production.
Apple has a history of hiring film workers in Japan.
Apple first introduced the iPhone in 2007 and now employs more than 40,000 workers in the country.
In an interview with The Associated Press last year, Kodak Chief Executive Kazuhiko Fujita said that the iPhone photo prints were “a great opportunity for Kodak Japan to grow and strengthen its position as a major manufacturer in the global smartphone industry.”
Kodaks iPhone photo paper and print cartridges are made in two separate factories, the company said in the letter to Kodak.
A print cartridge is made with an inkjet printer.KODAK prints iPhone photos at its facility in Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture.
The new Kodak-branded iPhone photo-print cartridges were shown off during a promotional event in Tokyo on May 18, 2014.KADAK’S PRIVATE LINE OF PHOTOGRAPHSKADACKS PRODUCERS ARE KIDNAPPED”Apple and Kodaku are committed to supporting Kodak and the people of Japan,” Fujita told the AP.
“The people of Kodak want to have an iPhone with a camera, and they want to use it as an essential tool to help them make better photos.
This partnership will help to bring these two products to the Japanese market.
The announcement comes a week after Kodak said it would be joining forces with the country’s leading film company, Toho, in an effort to bring iPhones to Kodaks own facilities in Japan next year.
Toho’s iPhone camera is the first device that Apple will be able to use in the new Kodaks iPhone camera.
The two companies announced in September that they would join forces to launch the iPhone 5, iPhone 5C, and iPhone 5S.