History (1999): Plasmon Buys Cygnet 12-Inch Optical Library Business

The 12-inch WORM market is shrinking, and so is the number of manufacturers.

Plasmon has just acquired for £2.3 million ($3.6 million) the 12-inch optical disk library manufacturing activities of Cygnet Storage Solutions, which had $7.9 million in revenues for the fiscal year ended last March.

Little by little, Plasmon is scooping up the small 12-inch WORM market, in full recession, after already acquiring the ≠1 drive producer, Philips LMS, and now the number one jukebox maker.

There are only 2 remaining 12-inch jukebox specialists, FileNet in the US (of which LMS was a client) and DSM in Germany, but their production is incredibly weak. It would not be surprising, even, if FileNet soon ceased its activities.

Only one rival remains for 12-inch drives, and that is the small French firm, New ATG, which had in fact been a Cygnet customer.

Note that Plasmon did not acquire all Cygnet, but rather just its main business. The company also designs and manufactures CD jukeboxes. Cygnet, founded in 1986, went through Chapter XI proceedings once before in 1993, the year that it was acquired by ATG, before being sold to Dynatek in 1996, then finally becoming independent in 1998.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 139 on Agust 1999 from the former paper versio of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.