Sheila, re: Orb
Sheila, as you know, I am relatively new to this thread (However, have been an Iomega fan for a very long time).
And, admittedly, I am a technological idiot compared to guys like Allen and others.
However, IMO, for Iomega to succeed in the long term, 2 things must happen (and everything else is gravy):
1. Zip must replace the floppy as the standard I/O device on PCs. I happen to think this is a foregone conclusion at this point. For that to happen, Iomega (and the rest of the world) knows that the price of the drives AND the discs will have to come down.
Iomega is following the tenets of Marketing 101 perfectly at this point. At this stage of the marketing cycle, Iomega is taking every penny they can from the market. First, with the early adopters (of which it seems many are on this thread). Now, in the early product life cycle. Next year, the price will come down significantly as Iomega introduces advanced versions of the Zip (I believe Zip Plus is not the last version that we'll see). These advanced versions will retain $200 price points, and Zips will come down in price. All of these will use the same discs and we'll see significant unit volume growth, cancelling out any negative produced by price reductions.
2. New products must be introduced to keep earnings growth (and multiples) high. Clik! is it.
IMO, Jaz and Ditto are just gravy. Jaz will never be a mass market item. Nor will Syjunk or Orb. The profit potential is in Zip (and future generation Zips).
As you know, a lot more floppies are sold than hard disc drives. The same will hold true with Iomega.
Don't worry. Be happy. |
