Again...I am not taking sides, but anyone should be able to express an opinion about anything. SI is a bulletin board specifically created to facilitate the expression of such opinions. Rocky can be short the stock, everybody he knows can be short the stock, but from a NASD perspective he would not be breaking any laws by espousing his bearish opinion UNLESS he was acting as a securities broker and specifically receiving compensation as such (without a license). In addition, he does not appear to be holding himself out as an investment advisor.. That is, he is not requesting compensation for his investment advice, so he would not (likely) be subject to regulation under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940.
Keep in mind that objectivity is notably lacking on both sides of this thread. Based on my observations, s.bateh would probably find a way characterize a Chapter 11 filing as a highly positive development...
Iomega (the business, not the stock) appears to have a decent, albeit heavily retail, installed base. The large base of Zip (razors) drives should consume Zip Disks (razor blades) for many years to come just as the company's original Bernoulli technology cartridge sales kept it alive for many years after the hardware stopped growing.
There has been an important competitive response..were it not for the strength of this competitive response, Kim Edwards would not have felt the urgency to pump up the advertising budget and go for marketshare. So Iomega is moving from a near monopoly position on a clever gadget, to a more competitive business environment where the "standards" debate will get much more intense, heated and expensive.
Some can "poo poo" the backward compatibility of products such as the LS-120 (i.e. Superdisk), but the ability to read standard 3.5" floppies and support a high capacity (120MB) media in one device is compelling to some business users (such as myself). As a frequent traveler, I need to get files in and out of my laptop. The LS-120 solution allows me to have baseline compatibility (i.e. standard 3.5" floppy) just about anywhere I go, with almost anyone I meet, plus high capacity storage. For my particular application, and others in my organization, this functionality is far more valuable than a faster data transfer rate.
My point? The competitive alternatives are viable and, as a result, IOM's market has become more competitive. This isn't the end of the world, and the company facing imminent financial ruin, it just means that the salad days are over.
Rocky predicts the end of the world. Others predict unbridled success and a clear runway to nirvana. The business reality would seem to be squarely in the middle, but the hype on both sides is less than educational.
GJP |
