Iomega may not ship 200Mb Zip in 1998

Randy Scott, product line manger for Zip in Europe, said Iomega announced the 200Mb version of the Zip two years ago and already has working product in its labs.

"When the customer has a demand for that capacity, we'll be there," said Scott, who declined to specify whether a release is likely in 1998 at all.

Scott added that the 200-300Mb category had not been proven as more than "a niche" but said that increasing file sizes could mean that will change

"If you're a high-end user you're probably [an Iomega] Jaz drive customer. You have to find a balance between price and performance," he said.

Separately, Scott said Iomega was making good OEM inroads with its 15mm Zip drive for notebooks and added a 12.7mm drive will be available this year.

"There really aren't a lot of backup solutions for notebooks and, for us, this means we've come full circle and have solutions for all the market."

Rival formats have not made significant impact on Iomega's bottom line, Scott claimed, pointing out that Iomega had made 33 per cent of all Zip drive sales ever in the last four months.

Also, Micron recently became one of the first PC vendors to resolve a long-time hassle - the ability to boot from a Zip - when it made Zip the default a: drive on its PCs.

2Gb Jaz drives are expected to be available in the UK in April.