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Iomega sees Europe leading strong Q3
Reuters Story - October 09, 1997 17:22
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By Neal Boudette
FRANKFURT, Oct 9 (Reuter) - Data storage group Iomega Corp
said on Thursday it expected surging European sales to
stand out in the third quarter results due later this month.
After building up its distribution network and strengthening
its management team, Iomega Europe was growing nearly three
times faster than its U.S. and Asian units, said Kevin O'Hare,
managing director of Iomega International SA.
"Our third quarter ended September 30, and we are very
encouraged by the continued success in Europe," he told Reuters
after a news conference in Munich.
O'Hare also said he was confident of winning a legal battle
to stop a French company from selling disks for Iomega's
fast-selling ZIP drives.
Two weeks ago Iomega filed a complaint in Paris charging
Nomai SA with unfair competition and patent, copyright
and trademark violations.
A German court ruling last month cleared the way for Nomai
to begin selling its disks in France and Germany.
But O'Hare said that decision concerned only the shape of
Nomai's disks. A proceeding due to begin November 28 would
decide whether Nomai used technology patented by Iomega.
In the first six months of 1997, Iomega's group sales rose
51 percent to $762 million.
First-half European sales surged 80 percent to $215 million,
including a second quarter jump of 92 percent. In the same
period, U.S. sales rose 28 percent and Asia sales increased 30
percent.
O'Hare said he expected European sales to continue their
rapid ascent, and attributed the rise to an expansion of its
European distribution system, and a bolstered management team.
Iomega now has 4,000 retail stores in Germany, France and
Britain selling is drives, up from 1,000 a year ago. It also
added several European-wide distributors.
Iomega Europe also added new directors of logistics, retail
sales, marketing communications and information technology.
"We've brought in seasoned executives who have experience in
running a multi-million dollar operation," O'Hare said.
To sustain growth in Europe, Iomega planned to expand sales
and distribution in the Benelux and Nordic countries in 1998.
Zip drives are similar to the 1.44 megabyte floppy drives
that come with all personal computers, but their disks can store
100 megabytes of data.
-- Frankfurt Newsroom, +49-69 756525
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