The concept of ambidextrous organization, which is allowing exploration and exploitation to coexist within an organization, has attracted considerable interest and is useful in understanding the corporate transformation process. We aim to advance the framework of ambidextrous organization by incorporating the aspect of exploration persistency. Our in‐depth case study revealed the contrasting persistence of exploration for new technology and new business between Fujifilm and Kodak through analysis of patent data from 1982 to 2012. Also, we discuss how the degree of exploration persistency is influenced by the effects of exploitation and knowledge accumulation within ambidextrous organization. In this paper, exploration persistency is defined as the degree to which an organization continues exploration in a consistent direction along a particular path and the amount of resources the organization applies to or invests in the exploration activity until the organization realizes that it is headed in the wrong direction. We examine the different fates of Fujifilm and Kodak through the lens of exploration persistency.