Iomega (original) (raw)

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Defunct American corporation

Iomega Corporation
Industry Computer
Founded April 1, 1980 (1980-04-01) in Roy, Utah, U.S. (as an IBM spin-off)
Founder David Bailey[1] and David Norton
Fate Acquired by EMC Corporation and Lenovo
Headquarters San Diego, California, U.S.
Products Computer storage
Owners LenovoDell EMC
Number of employees 450 (in 2005)[2]

Iomega Corporation (later LenovoEMC)[3][4][5] was a company that produced external, portable, and networked data storage products. Established in the 1980s in Roy, Utah, United States, Iomega sold more than 410 million digital storage drives and disks, including the Zip drive floppy disk system.[6] Formerly a public company, it was acquired by EMC Corporation in 2008, and then by Lenovo, which rebranded the product line as LenovoEMC, until discontinuation in 2018.[7][8]

Iomega started in Roy, Utah, U.S. in 1980 and moved its headquarters to San Diego, California in 2001.[9] For many years, it was a significant name in the data storage industry. Iomega's most famous product, the Zip drive, offered relatively large amounts of storage on portable, high-capacity floppy disks. The original Zip disk's 100MB capacity was a huge improvement over the decades-long standard of 1.44MB standard floppy disks. The Zip drive became a common internal and external peripheral for IBM-compatible and Macintosh personal computers. However, Zip drives sometimes failed after a short period, which failure was commonly referred to as the "click of death." This problem, combined with competition from CD-RW drives, caused Zip drive sales to decline dramatically, even after introducing larger 250MB and 750MB versions. Iomega eventually launched a CD-RW drive.[10]

Without the revenue from its proprietary storage disks and drives, Iomega's sales and profits declined considerably. Iomega's stock price, which was over 100atitsheightinthe1990s,felltoaround100 at its height in the 1990s, fell to around 100atitsheightinthe1990s,felltoaround2 in the mid-2000s. Trying to find a niche, Iomega released devices such as the HipZip MP3 player, the FotoShow Digital Image Center, and numerous external hard drives, optical drives, and NAS products. None of these products were successful.[10]

In 2012, reporter Vincent Verweij of Dutch broadcaster Katholieke Radio Omroep revealed that at least 16,000 Iomega NAS devices were publicly exposing their users' files on the Internet. This was due to Iomega having disabled password security by default. KLM, ING Group, and Ballast Nedam all had confidential material leaked in this manner. Iomega USA acknowledged the problem and said future models (starting February 2013) would have password security enabled by default. The company said it would clearly instruct users about the risks of unsecured data.[11]

The signing ceremony that created LenovoEMC joint venture

On April 8, 2008, EMC Corporation announced plans to acquire Iomega for US$213 million.[12] The acquisition was completed in June 2008,[13] making Iomega the SOHO/SMB arm of EMC. EMC kept the Iomega brand name alive with products such as the StorCenter NAS line, ScreenPlay TV Link adapter, and v.Clone virtualization software.[10]

Joint venture with Lenovo: LenovoEMC

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The LenovoEMC logo

In 2013, EMC (before the Dell purchase[14]) formed a joint venture with Chinese technology company Lenovo, named LenovoEMC,[15] that took over Iomega's business. LenovoEMC rebranded all of Iomega's products under its name. LenovoEMC designed products for small and medium-sized businesses that could not afford enterprise-class data storage. LenovoEMC was a part of a broader partnership between the two companies announced in August 2012. The partnership also included an effort to develop x86-based servers and allowing Lenovo to act as an OEM for some EMC hardware. LenovoEMC was a part of Lenovo's Enterprise Products Group before it ultimately dissolved with the EMC Dell acquisition.[16][17][18]

In November 2013, Lenovo announced the construction of a research and development facility near São Paulo, Brazil. This facility was dedicated to enterprise software and supporting LenovoEMC's development of high-end servers and cloud storage. Construction would cost $100 million and about 100 would be employed at the facility. It would be located in the University of Campinas Science and Technology Park, about 60 miles from São Paulo.[19] Later in 2016 the Brazil facility was downscaled and relocated elsewhere.[20]

Iomega designed and manufactured a range of products intended to compete with and ultimately replace the 3.5" floppy disk, notably the Zip drive. Initial Iomega products connected to a computer via SCSI or parallel port; later models used USB and FireWire (1994).

The 400d was a multi-bay network-attached storage (NAS) device. The 400d was powered by an Intel Atom processor running at 2.13 gigahertz, had 2 gigabytes of RAM, and a SATA 3 controller capable of moving data at 6 gigabits per second. The HDMI-out function enabled monitoring live feeds from surveillance cameras. The unit can be set up and managed without a PC using an external display, keyboard, and mouse. The 400d is LenovoEMC's first product sold with its LifeLine 4.1 software, which added functions such as a domain mode, enhanced Active Directory support and a more robust SDK. McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator was included for centralized security management. All THINK-branded systems from Lenovo pre-installed with Windows 8.1 included LenovoEMC Storage Connector in order make discovery and set-up of the 400d and other LenovoEMC NAS devices smoother.[24]

Lenovo Beacon Home Cloud Centre

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At the 2014 International CES, LenovoEMC announced the Lenovo Beacon Home Cloud Centre. The Beacon is a storage device that allows remote sharing of data such as music, pictures, and video. The Beacon allows music and video streaming to multiple devices. Android phones and tablets can be used to control the Beacon. It also has an HDMI port to allow connection to a television or monitor. Up to 6 terabytes of storage, RAID 0 and 1, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth are all supported.[25]

  1. ^ "Executive Profile: Dave Bailey". Bloomberg. 28 July 2023. the lead Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Iomega Inc.
  2. ^ Iomega Corporation (2005). "Iomega:25 Years of Storage Technology Leadership". Today Iomega has approximately 450 employees
  3. ^ Martin Courtney (April 9, 2008). "EMC secures Iomega acquisition". Computing (UK). two previous bids .. were rejected
  4. ^ a b "Iomega Rejects EMC Offer". The New York Times. March 11, 2008.
  5. ^ a b "Iomega Accepts Takeover Offer". The New York Times. April 9, 2008.
  6. ^ International Directory of Company Histories, Vol. 21. St. James Press, 1998.
  7. ^ "History of Iomega Corporation – FundingUniverse". www.fundinguniverse.com.
  8. ^ Climpanu, Catalin (29 June 2020). "A hacker gang is wiping Lenovo NAS devices and asking for ransoms". ZDNET. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  9. ^ Wallace, Brice (19 October 2001). "Iomega leaving Roy for San Diego". Deseret News. Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Roy, with about 33,000 residents, had been Iomega's headquarters city since the company was founded in 1980.
  10. ^ a b c "Lenovo relegates Iomega brand to entry-level gear | bit-tech.net". bit-tech.net.
  11. ^ "The IT Companies Making Life Too Easy For Hackers". www.youtube.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-15.
  12. ^ Press release EMC To Acquire Iomega. Accessed 2008-04-09
  13. ^ Courtney, Martin (2008-04-09). "EMC secures Iomega acquisition". www.computing.co.uk. Retrieved 2024-07-05.
  14. ^ Kumar, B. Rajesh (2019), Kumar, B. Rajesh (ed.), "Dell's Acquisition of EMC", Wealth Creation in the World’s Largest Mergers and Acquisitions: Integrated Case Studies, Management for Professionals, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 191–195, doi:10.1007/978-3-030-02363-8_20, ISBN 978-3-030-02363-8, S2CID 169549147, retrieved 2023-10-18
  15. ^ "Lenovo and EMC Create LenovoEMC JV to Bring Network Attached Storage to SMBs and Distributed Enterprise Sites". January 3, 2013.
  16. ^ Bradley, Tony (January 11, 2013). "Lenovo and EMC partner on storage for SMBs". PCWorld.
  17. ^ Hutchinson, Lee (January 3, 2013). "Storage giant EMC unites with PC OEM Lenovo on new joint venture". Ars Technica.
  18. ^ Chacos, Brad (11 January 2013). "LenovoEMC Forms to Bring NAS Solutions to Businesses of All Sizes". LaptopMag.
  19. ^ "Lenovo To Open $100 Million R&D Facility In Brazil". Investor's Business Daily. November 18, 2013.
  20. ^ "Lenovo reorganizes Brazil operation". ZDNET. Retrieved 2023-10-18.
  21. ^ Iomega Corporation. 30 years of unstoppable innovation
  22. ^ "Shares off sharply at Iomega, storage disk maker". The New York Times. July 21, 2001.
  23. ^ Mearian, Lucas (2013-06-12). "The Iomega brand is now LenovoEMC". Computerworld. Retrieved 2021-07-08.
  24. ^ Whitlock, Matt (January 7, 2014). "LenovoEMC Debuts Improved ix4-400d Four-Bay NAS at CES, and We've Got All the Details". Archived from the original on 2014-01-18. Retrieved 2014-02-07.
  25. ^ Lynn, Samara (9 January 2014). "LenovoEMC Reveals NAS Boxes for Home and Business". PC Magazine. United States. Retrieved 10 March 2015.

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