SyQuest Technology
Removable Media - SyQuest Technology
SyQuest Technology was a manufacturer of removable hard disks for personal computers. The company was established by Syed Iftikar in 1982.
Initially, SyQuest manufactured 3.9” removable hard drives and 3.9” ruggedized hard drives for IBM XT compatibles and military applications. Some of other subsequent products include SQ306RD drive/ SQ100 cartridge, SQ325F fixed drive, SQ555 drive/SQ400 cartridge, EZ135 aka EZDrive 135/EZ135 cartridge, SparQ drive/SparQ cartridge, and Quest drive/Quest disc.
SyQuest led the market for several years. The company aimed at providing personal computer users with endless hard drive space for data-intensive applications like desktop publishing, Internet information management, pre-press, multimedia, audio, video, digital photography, fast backup, and data exchange.
The company could not fare well in the market since 1995, when Iomega cornered the small office/ home office (SOHO) market. The company also faced series of losses during 1995-1997, especially due to the failure of its SparQ drive that caused a large number of the drives to malfunction within just a few months of initial operation. The company filed for bankruptcy in late 1998, and some of the portions of the company were subsequently purchased by Iomega.
After this deal, SyQuest retained the rights to sell their remaining inventory. The products, including the disk drives and media, were sold through a Web site at www.SYQT.com, and provided software downloads in support of those products. As of June 2009, the Web site no longer exists.
