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

To: John Lacelle who wrote (56797)	6/24/1998 11:03:00 AM
From: RetiredNow	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 58324

Yes, John. I know that. I sold my IOM a long time ago for a loss. I was hoping others on this thread knew that. Why are you still long on IOM if you know that?

To: John Lacelle who wrote (56797)	6/24/1998 11:43:00 AM
From: Gregg Powers	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 58324

John: I beg to differ with your analysis of Imation. The company is a mini-conglomerate that was spun-off from 3M in 1996. Its operations include a large data storage division (high-end data center media, high-end and mid-range Travan tapes, floppy disks and Superdisk), a medical imaging business (centered around a dry-process printer technology marketed as Dryview) and a printing & publishing division (analog & digital proofing, plates, film etc.). What you perceive as large losses relate to a restructuring charge that management took during the March quarter to reduce the company's structure, cut SG&A expense and exit certain businesses (such as CD-ROM production). Imation does not sell LS-120 drives; these are produced by its consortium partner (MKE) and others, rather it sells the media (Superdisks). Nevertheless, the company obviously has an active interest in promoting the technology and tracking unit shipments. In just over nine months of broad commercial availability, roughly 1.1 million drives were placed and the company expects total shipments to exceed 5mm by year end. That's a pretty reasonable performance. While IOM has established a decent corporate presence, its major franchise has been retail consumers. Imation has focused almost entirely on the corporate market. This creates a difference is visibility and perceived success. In some applications the Zip has excellent merit; in other applications the Superdisk (LS-120) is clearly superior. In my company, for example, we all have desktop PCs and laptops. We use the Superdisk to synchronize between the two computers and to access legacy information stored on standard 3.5" floppies. When traveling to other offices it's important to be able to access legacy (3.5" floppy) files. If we deployed Zips, the laptop user would need to bring along a portable Zip and a portable floppy. The Superdisk solution provides us with a high-capacity removable solution, easy access to legacy files and one small drive to do it with. Best Regards, Gregg