**************WARNING LONG POST***************
3-8-99
I had a chance to visit a CompUSA in Westbury NY today after work:
This is, to the best of my recollection, what I saw.
1. For the first time ever I saw more than just 0- 5 250 mb disks. This store had the most zip 250 disks I have ever seen retail. While still no 4 or 6 packs they did have 102 single cart. For sale at 24.99. IOM may be losing disk rev and profit but by selling only the singles but their margins must be huge. Then I had to go to Staples ….they also had a few 250 disks…..first time I ever saw them there at Staples.
2. A lot of the Zip 250 drives I saw last week are gone….sold…..I'd say 40% in a week.
3. Plenty of retail internal, regular zip and zip starter pack, even zip 250 for Macs….no mac disks though….. I'd say a 30% reduction from last weeks merchandise stock. Something odd has developed re Usb Zip……..Haven't seen one for weeks at this store.
4. OEM I must admit did not look good: Compaq---2 ls 120s( with broken doors2 with just a floppy and one with a zip. Apple:Out of three G3 models on display one had zipped……otherwise no other internal zips from apple. HP: 4 machines----1 with Zip no ls120. IBM: 4 machines ---no zip or ls120.NEC/Pachard Bell; 5 machines 2 with ls 120 with no broken doors btw, and no zips
3/12/99
Zip 250 drives selling very well.
No rush on 250 disks though….yet.
Internal 100s also moves very well.
No change in OEM situation……... Still no usb's.
All these very Unscientific Channel checks give me some in understanding where IOM, the company, is, in its business cycle.
I look at there products, chronologically, first:
Zip100Classic PP
Zip100Classic SCSI
Zip SCSI INTERNAL
ZIP PLUS
ZIP ATAPI INTERNAL
NOTEBOOK ZIPS (IN QUANTITY)
USB ZIP 100
ZIP 250 PP/SCSI
ZIP 250 INTERNAL
JAZ1G DRIVE PC EXT/INT
JAZ1G DRIVE MAC EXT/INT
JAZ1G DRIVE PC/MAC EXT/INT
JAZ2G DRIVE PC/MAC EXT/INT
SINGLE PLATTER 2G DRIVE (YET TO BE ANNOUNCED)
CLIK DIVE FOR DIGICAMS
CLIK DRIVE FOR PDA/MOBILE COMP.
CLIK PLUS DRIVE
Unannounced
It seems to me that iom has all the bases pretty much covered….not locked up………but covered. The question, imho, is this : Is there enough NEED=DEMAND for so many different formats of removable storage?And if not, how long will it takes for the market to grow?
Is the huge explosion in removable storage, in both the business and consumer market really going to happen?
IMHO, I believe the answer is ………..”yes”.
But I think it will take longer and eventually be bigger than most other people believe.
A.
Lets take Business for example:
Growth of storage needs will be substantial I believe, because of:
Year 2000
More “Mobile” Economy
Increase In databases and database sizes
Explosion in Internet downloads.
…..and much more…..
IOM needs to land some contracts with some big Co.s or government agencies.
Now, if I'm an employee of a company that just went Zip standard on all their machines and I have a PC but no Zip…. Well maybe after I see what it can do at work, I'll go out and buy one for the house (Probably USB or Classic External) Then when I buy my new computer for the home I'll be sure to order a Internal Zip for the machine.
This scenario will happen frequently… if IOM can get Big Cos. or Fed/State/Local government agencies…. Places have to 50k-100k desktops in use…to go totally standard on Zip when they upgrade their computer systems …or maybe IOM and Unisys/EDS as resellers and have them add internals to existing machines …Now there's a thought. I got put that one on my list…
Not only will entering the biz market will give IOM the rev and profit from the contracts but it also represents free advertising to those 100s and 100s thousands of PC owning, Non-zip owning, employees.
This wills initially spur higher margin ext. drives while the eventual upgrade will be OEM drives.
Now the more people with Zip at home will then spur a surge again in externals then oem drives and so forth and so on. Botom line is ……it all adds up to more disk revenue!!!!
PS….On and BTW when these big Companies and government agencies go Zip standard then their “small Business' suppliers will eventually also have to go Zip standard……and the same thing will happen with that whole base of employed average consumers.
B.
The Beyond PC product adoption needs to start showing up in both consumer based products like set top boxes HELLO GENERAL INSTRUMENT!!!!!… as well as business/industrial markets.
Related Links:
Panasonic copiers with zip Built In.
panasonic.com
Lexmark Printer:
lexmark.com
Microtek Scanner:
microtekusa.com
Stryker Medical:
endo.strykercorp.com
360Systems (Audio)
360systems.com
Roland:
rolandus.com
rolandus.com
rolandus.com
rolandus.com
rolandus.com
rolandus.com
rolandus.com
rolandus.com
Set top Boxes:
iomega.com
websurfer.com
Nintedo Game Storage(not made by nintendo)
http//:www.z64.com
This is all very encourage but for the company to be success longterm it must find and penetrate new Non PC application…Dental X-Ray Machines…….Auto Inspection Computerized machines with a Zip Built In?……who knows?
Food For Thought.
I'll post the balance of my analysis later on.
Good night,
Frank
Its all in the disks……
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