Iomega, best known for its portable Zip drives, hopes to rejuvenate its fortunes with new business lines including forays into the already crowded network-attached storage (NAS) and small form-factor storage markets.
On Wednesday the San Diego-based company introduced seven new NAS file servers aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong. NAS file servers allow multiple computers to share one storage device over a network.
Iomega intends to compete on price and performance in an arena dominated by Network Appliance, Dell Computer and white-box manufacturers. Its file servers start at HK$10,000.
Consumers account for 62 per cent of Iomega's sales and personal computer makers still represent the biggest sales channel for Zip. Its new direction means finding new partners and sales channels. It sees Australia, Japan and South Korea as its three key NAS markets.
'Due to the tight competition in the consumer storage market, Iomega is trying to branch out in to the SOHO or SME segments where the margins are better,' International Data Corp storage analyst Martin Wijaya said.
'The value proposition that Iomega provides and the widespread availability of the NAS products through consumer channels is very attractive to the SME segment.
'It would not be fair to compare Iomega with the big boys such as NetApp because their market segments are different. Iomega NAS products are primarily focused on the Win2K environments, whereas the other players focus on a broader range of platforms. So playing niche has its advantages. The Windows environment in the SME segment is the most active segment in the storage arena. However, it will be interesting to see how Iomega leverages its consumer-level brand awareness into penetrating the SME segment.'