Iomega
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1980
- HeadquartersSan Diego, United States
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Iomega does
Iomega Corporation was a Utah-founded (1980) storage hardware company that rose to global prominence through its proprietary Zip drive, a 100MB removable magnetic cartridge launched in March 1995. The company's underlying technology centered on removable magnetic storage and floptical laser servo positioning (used in its later SuperDisk format, achieving 2,490 tracks per inch), with the Zip drive establishing near-monopoly status in the removable storage segment by leveraging first-mover advantage over competing formats. Its core business model was hardware sales — primarily Zip drives and the recurring revenue from proprietary cartridges — and the company served a horizontal segment of general consumer and business users needing portable, high-capacity data transfer and backup in the pre-USB, pre-cloud era.
Iomega monetized this through OEM pre-installation agreements with major PC manufacturers including Dell, Compaq, and Gateway, complemented by retail distribution, and at its peak grew revenue from $362 million to $1.2 billion within a single year, reaching a market capitalization of nearly $7 billion. The company's fortunes reversed as CD-R, DVD, and USB flash drives rendered magnetic removable media obsolete; the Zip drive was discontinued in 2003. Iomega was acquired by EMC Corporation in April 2008 for $213 million, and the Iomega brand was subsequently absorbed into the LenovoEMC joint venture in 2013, ending the independent company's existence. Current firmographic records (101-250 employees, San Diego) appear to reflect a residual branded entity rather than an independent operating business.
Iomega firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Iomega
- Legal name
- Iomega Corporation
- Website
- https://iomega.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1980
- Operating status
- Acquired
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Iomega industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Removable Storage Hardware
- NAICS
- Computer Storage Device Manufacturing (334112), Manufacturing and Reproducing Magnetic and Optical Media (33461)
- SIC
- Magnetic & Optical Recording Media (3695), Computer Storage Devices (3572)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Legacy Removable Media (Floppy/Zip/Jaz) (HDACAIAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Removable & Portable Storage (External Drives, Flash Media) (HDACACAD)
Keywords
Where Iomega is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Diego
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Iomega business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Hardware Sales - Zip Drives and Cartridges: Sale of proprietary Zip drives and accompanying removable magnetic cartridges. Revenue surged from $362 million to $1.2 billion within one year of Zip drive launch in 1995.
- Legacy Storage Hardware: Earlier storage products before the Zip drive era, including Bernoulli boxes and other removable media solutions
Distribution channels1 record
Iomega product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Iomega designed, manufactured, and sold removable magnetic storage hardware, with its flagship Zip drive launched in March 1995 offering 100 MB capacity per cartridge. The company also developed proprietary Floptical Laser Servo Technology for high-density storage solutions such as SuperDisk. Products were sold through OEM partnerships with major PC manufacturers and retail channels.
Product overview
Iomega was a single-product-focused company dominated by its Zip Drive, a proprietary magnetic cartridge removable storage device. The company's entire market success and eventual decline was tied to this one product, which faced obsolescence from advancing storage technologies including CD-Rs, DVDs, and USB flash drives. The brand was later acquired by EMC Corporation in 2008 and merged into the LenovoEMC joint venture in 2013.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Zip Drive
Companies that use Iomega
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Iomega technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature2 records
Iomega partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Iomega competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Drobo: Drobo directly competes with Iomega in the SMB storage appliance category with simplified RAID storage arrays, appealing to the same customers seeking easy-to-deploy networked storage.
- Buffalo Technology: Buffalo's TeraStation and LinkStation NAS lines compete with Iomega in SMB and consumer networked storage, offering comparable hardware, RAID configurations, and channel presence.
- Netgear: Netgear's ReadyNAS line competes directly with Iomega NAS products in the SMB segment, with overlapping retail channels and similar target buyers in small offices and prosumers.
- Synology: Synology is a leading direct competitor to current Iomega/LenovoEMC NAS products, targeting the same SMB and prosumer networked storage market with diskstation appliances and a similar DSM-style management platform.
- QNAP: QNAP directly competes with Iomega in SMB and SOHO NAS, offering comparable multi-bay appliances with a strong software ecosystem, making it the most direct head-to-head competitor in the brand's current category.
- LaCie: LaCie is a direct peer in external and portable storage, offering comparable desktop and rugged external drives and networked storage for creative professionals and consumers, with similar positioning to current Iomega products.
- Imation: Imation was a direct historical peer to Iomega in removable storage media — including magnetic tape and optical products — and faced similar obsolescence pressures as floppy, Zip, and tape formats were displaced by USB and cloud alternatives.
Emerging players
- Promise Technology: Promise Technology serves the SMB and prosumer storage market with NAS and RAID appliances, comparable to Iomega in target customer and product category, though with stronger presence in pro-creator workflows.
Broad incumbents
- Seagate Technology: Seagate is a broad storage incumbent producing hard drives alongside Personal Cloud and Business Storage NAS products that overlap with Iomega's networked storage offerings, leveraging component-level vertical integration.
- Western Digital: Western Digital is a broad incumbent in storage hardware, producing HDDs as well as My Cloud NAS products that compete with Iomega in the consumer/SMB segment, with vastly greater scale and component integration.
Market position
Strengths3 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Iomega social profiles
Digital presenceIomega financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Iomega leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Iomega funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Iomega M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Iomega
What does Iomega do?
Iomega designed, manufactured, and sold removable magnetic storage hardware, with its flagship Zip drive launched in March 1995 offering 100 MB capacity per cartridge. The company also developed proprietary Floptical Laser Servo Technology for high-density storage solutions such as SuperDisk. Products were sold through OEM partnerships with major PC manufacturers and retail channels.
Is Iomega a public or private company?
Iomega is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently acquired.
When was Iomega founded?
Iomega was founded in 1980. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Iomega based?
Iomega is headquartered in San Diego, United States, in the North America region.
How does Iomega make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Hardware Sales - Zip Drives and Cartridges are the primary driver. The others are legacy Storage Hardware.
Who are Iomega's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Drobo, Buffalo Technology, Netgear, Synology, QNAP, LaCie and Imation. Promise Technology is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Seagate Technology and Western Digital.
Does Iomega have an API?
No public API is recorded for Iomega.
What industry is Iomega in?
Iomega's product category is Removable Storage Hardware. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDACAIAK, Legacy Removable Media (Floppy/Zip/Jaz), with a secondary code of HDACACAD, Removable & Portable Storage (External Drives, Flash Media). Its NAICS code is 334112 and its SIC code is 3695.