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Non-Tech : Any info about Iomega (IOM)? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Spank who wrote (44675)	1/22/1998 10:25:00 PM
From: Gary Wisdom	Read Replies (6) \| Respond to of 58324

Conference call: some non-financial thoughts. Personally, I thought the CC was very negative. As usual, KE avoided giving away any information that could help the analysts make an informed decision. This can only hurt Iomega's rapport with the Street. IMO, KE is going to gamble the future fortunes of the company this year. Incremental advertising expenses to be $100MM in order to create demand for Zips. He will not lower the price to $99 until the volume warrants it. He said that if the advertising doesn't result in significant increases in Zip sales, that the cost will directly hit the bottom line. And, if ineffective, he'll pull as much as he can for the latter part of the year (as you know, advertising must be scheduled far in advance and paid for at the time of ordering). At this point, this would be a capitulation that he cannot turn the company around. KE avoided every question from the analysts as to why he would not lower the price of the drives. He stated that creating demand was the key; not lowering prices to meet competition. In fact, he doesn't seem to think there's any competition. Sorry folks, but I just can't be upbeat about this CC. IMO, it was a watershed for the company. I see analyst downgrades coming real soon on Iomega. The good news for you long term investors: my prediction is the company will be bought out sometime in the middle of this year in order to bail out KE. At this time, the most likely purchase price will be $17.50 per share, the price of the last stock offering. There's no way KE will go down with the ship. Should advertising be ineffective, he'll have to shop the company before he gets sued. BTW, I am now officially a long term investor. :<) My prediction: tomorrow will be quite interesting . . .

To: Spank who wrote (44675)	1/22/1998 10:28:00 PM
From: Ken Pomaranski	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 58324

Do any of you realize that the only product shipping from Iomega (without problems) is the ZIP? 3 years later, still a one trick pony. And with problems only ZIP and JAZ. I hate to tell you guys this, but the conference call shows ALL the signs of big trouble ahead. I knew this was coming, I've been saying this for 1.5 years. Iomega is ADMITTING (like I predicted 2 years ago) that they really don't make money off of OEM drives, and the tie ratio stinks with those drives. We are finally seeing the 'treadmill' affect I talked about last quarter (selling 2x the drives to stay in roughly the same place) They basically conceded the low end PC market, as was speculated in October. They heavily downplayed CLIK!, hinting (my opinion) that they have major problems with this drive. The America aftermarket was the FIRST market and therefore, by definition, will show the first signs of slowing.. HERE IT IS!!! And, they are making a last ditch desperate play with the super bowl. The hail Mary!! I'm not getting back into this guy, except to short sometime later Good luck! kp