Just when Iomega Corp had sorted out the component supply shortage that hampered third quarter production last year (CI No 2,768), along has come another potential mineshaft. The Roy, Utah-based company spent a year wrangling over the lease of its new call center in Dublin. It shipped operations from its European headquarters in Germany and moved in last month, amidst much pomp and ceremony, with an event hosted by Nora Owen TD, local Minister for Justice. Ironically, the latest round of problems stem from the company’s success. The Iomega 800Mb Ditto back-up family is ranked by International Data Corp as the best- selling personal computer tape drive in Europe and over 1m units of the new 100Mb Zip disk cartridge have sold worldwide since its 1995 launch. With much of its kit going to the home user market, call center enquiries have shot through the roof. Freefone numbers have been set up in 16 European countries and South Africa to cope with demand, but European vice-president Srini Nageshwar estimated the new Dublin facility would be far too small by December. Others within the firm give it a maximum of six months before another move becomes inevitable, so it looks as if it’s back to the negotiating table for Iomega.
