History (1999): Iomega Dumps Nomaï

All’s unwell that ends unwell.

It is almost certain that Iomega will close its French subsidiary Nomaï, which the Utah-based manufacturer acquired for $45 million little more than a year ago, although the goal was to eliminate a rival more than to obtain assets.

All of Nomaï’s activities had ceased.

Iomega officially announced that Clik! media for the European market would be manufactured out of the former Nomaï plant in Avranches. An $5 million investment was made in the project, and 500,000 diskettes were produced, but it now seems clear there is insufficient demand for the product, which will henceforth be manufactured only in Iomega’s Roy, UT HQ.

As a result, the firm has decided to cease all production in Avranches, France, and lay off all personnel, even if official press releases are still worded in the conditional.

Furthermore, the company will consolidate leasehold facilities in Utah and Colorado. These actions affect 140 people, 110 of which are former Nomaï employees in France.

Nomaï’s Scottish subsidiary, formerly called Myrica, had already been shut down at the beginning of last summer.

Phone calls are not returned at the Paris sales office.

Meanwhile, Nomaï Albi Media, renamed Albi Media Manufacturing (AMM), the last and only French floppy disk factory, which has changed hands repeatedly in the past few years and has never been particularly lucky, was personally acquired last August by Alain Bouttier, the former ATG CEO.

This article is an abstract of news published on issue 141 on October 1999 from the former paper version of Computer Data Storage Newsletter.