Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Non-Tech : Iomega Thread without Iomega -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Reseller who wrote (6890)	1/29/1999 7:58:00 AM
From: Bob B.	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10072

I also feel the dismal picture painted for Q1 and the rest of 99 was deliberate and more than just "guidance" in the Microsoft and Intel style. It was meant to discourage potential competitors from jumping in right now. There's a definite plan to defeat or neutralize the competition that takes precedence over short-term investor profits. Glore is more Patton than Westmoreland - and definitely not for the fainthearted.

To: Reseller who wrote (6890)	1/29/1999 9:10:00 AM
From: HRP	Read Replies (5) \| Respond to of 10072

<<The statement about this quarter was cavalier in nature, almost disconcerting and because of that I have a suspicion that something's up, can't put my finger on it but watching very closely, how about sticking my neck out a little. >> Reseller, Here are a few thoughts as to what is up: A year ago IOM dropped from $13 to $8 overnight following a bad earnings report. Management cited as the primary cause the sudden unexpected increase in OEM inclusion of Zip drives to 50%. The new management responded by cutting expenses during the remainder of the year by $95,000,000 and a good earnings report followed for the seasonably best quarter. However, in the last conference call an even higher OEM inclusion percentage was reported. My take is that this also occurred more quickly than expected and that the company has materially revised downwards its internal projections of profit from 100MB Zip drive sales for Q1 and onwards. To offset this projected loss of revenue the company has decided to restructure (notwithstanding the loss of Briscoe who apparently didn't see this company when he bought 200,000 share of IOM a few months earlier) to further reduce cost and improve efficiency. Secondly, the number of OEMs for the Superdrive has increased from one to forty in the past year. To what extent will this increased exposure take future sales away form Iomega? Does the availability of the Superdrive negatively affect the price Iomega can charge for Zip drives to OEMs? Also, the substantial increase in Zip disk sales occurred after the price was reduced. Will this rate of sales continue or have the increased sales in Q4 been “borrowed” from future sales? I argue that these points introduce more uncertainty as to Iomega's future than many are contemplating. Clearly, there are many positive things that can be said about Iomega. Few appear to be willing to post the negative things when the reward is personal attacks instead of discussion of the issues. hrp