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Iomega

Maker of the mighty Zip disk and the 1990s' favorite portable storage — bought by EMC and folded away

Defunct — Iomega was the company behind the Zip drive and Zip disk, hugely popular removable media of the 1990s. EMC bought it in 2008, the business later became LenovoEMC, and the storied brand was wound down as flash storage took over.

Iomega was founded in 1980 in Roy, Utah, as a data-storage company, but it made its name in 1994 with the launch of the Zip drive. The Zip disk held far more than a floppy and was fast enough for real work, and it quickly became the ubiquitous way to back up and move data for home and office users.

The Zip drive was a genuine phenomenon. Its distinctive disks were everywhere, and for a time Iomega was one of the best-known names in personal computing. The company also made other removable-media products, including the smaller Clik! and the higher-capacity Jaz drive.

As USB flash drives and other storage formats took over, the Zip disk faded, and Iomega struggled to keep pace. In 2008 storage giant EMC acquired Iomega for around $213 million. The business later became part of LenovoEMC, and the Iomega name was gradually retired.

Quick facts

Founded
1980, Roy, Utah
Famous product
Zip drive (1994)
The idea
High-capacity removable disks for the PC
Acquired
By EMC in 2008 (~$213 million)
Later
Became LenovoEMC
Legacy
The 1990s' favorite way to back up a PC

Lineage — where the name went

A Utah storage company that found one great product, saw it undone by drive failures and newer formats, and ended up as a name inside first EMC and then a Lenovo joint venture.

  1. 1994 — Iomega Corporation created The Zip drive (the product the company is remembered for)
  2. 1995 — Iomega Corporation created The Jaz drive (the higher-capacity drive)
  3. 1997 — Iomega Corporation created The Clik! drive (the small-format disk system)
  4. The click of death defeated The Zip drive (the drive-failure problem that helped end the format's run)
  5. 2008 — EMC Corporation acquired Iomega Corporation (announced in April 2008 for about $213 million and completed in June)
  6. 2013 — EMC Corporation created LenovoEMC (a joint venture with Lenovo that took over the Iomega business)
  7. 2013 — Lenovo created LenovoEMC (the majority partner in the venture)
  8. 2013 — Iomega Corporation rebranded as LenovoEMC (the product line was rebranded under the venture's name)
  9. 2016 — Dell acquired EMC Corporation (Dell's purchase of EMC, completed in September 2016)

Entities in this tree: Iomega Corporation (company, 1980); The Zip drive (product, 1994); The Jaz drive (product, 1995); The Clik! drive (product, 1997); The click of death (event); EMC Corporation (company); LenovoEMC (company, 2013); Lenovo (company); Dell (company)

Sources

  1. Iomega - Wikipedia — Wikipedia (2026-09-05)
  2. EMC buys Iomega — ZDNET (2026-09-05)
  3. Dell and EMC's merger now complete — RTÉ (2026-09-20)

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