It’s a tough pair of shoes to fill, but for now I’m babysitting the Business Journal’s weekly technology column, the pride and joy of our recently departed tech writer Brian Womack. I don’t do diapers, but here goes
StoreCase Products Bought
CRU-Dataport, a Vancouver, Wash.-based maker of storage cases for removable disk drives, has bought a product line from its former competitor, Fountain Valley-based StorCase Technology Inc.
In September, StorCase’s parent company Kingston Technology Co., the Fountain Valley memory products maker, shut down the businesses.
CRU-Dataport bought StorCase’s Data Express line of enclosures for drives with an eye toward picking up customers of the products. Some engineering and salespeople from StorCase are set to join CRU-DataPort.
“We plan to hire two of their sales reps and one of their engineers, but it’s not finalized yet,” spokesman Jon Johnson said. “The decision to relocate (to Vancouver) or to stay is going to be left up to them.”
Privately held CRU declined to disclose its annual revenue or how much it paid for the product line.
CRU makes an identical product to StorCase’s Data Express, called DataPort. It’s a specialized storage box that allows users to swap drives in and out.
The box, used by the Defense Department, among others, protects the drives from getting damaged from shocks, vibration and heat.
CRU patented the box in 1989. StorCase came to dominate the market with an identical product.
StorCase was paying royalties to CRU “for some time,” Johnson said.
With the deal in place, CRU is set to become a bigger player in the niche market for removable drive enclosures.
Competitors include Dell Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co., as well as other small companies.
“We can guess that between the two products that we are easily over half of the market share now,” Johnson said.
StorCase stopped taking orders on Oct. 26.
The company traces its roots back to 1989, when Kingston launched a storage products division. In 2000, Kingston made the unit a separate company.
CRU was founded in 1986 and has traditionally had customers in the entertainment industry, government and at universities.
GoldenRam Buys Tech Service
Irvine-based GoldenRam, a maker of computer memory products, said it’s bought Techies.com, a tech service business that’s set to compete with Best Buy Co.’s Geek Squad.
Techies.com was founded as a recruiting site for tech professionals in 1997. Doug Berg, the company’s founder, sold off part of Techies.com, which later became part of Geek Squad, Best Buy’s tech service arm.
Christ Zomaya, chief executive of GoldenRam, purchased the rest of Techies.com, which couldn’t compete with big recruiters such as CareerBuilder Inc. and Monster Worldwide Inc.
GoldenRam declined to say what it paid for Techies.com.
“They couldn’t really compete with CareerBuilder and Monster,” Zomaya said. “They were really on the ropes. I acquired them for their list of people.”
GoldenRam’s computer repair and service arm gained access to some 977,000 nerds in the deal. The buy gives GoldenRam a new way to sell its memory upgrades for computers.
The services are geared toward both computer owners and businesses.
“The four most profitable areas in IT are service, training, support and upgrades. We are focusing on those things,” Zomaya said.
GoldenRam offers software called UpgradeDetect, which scans a computer for free, searching for parts that need upgrading or problems that need diagnosing.
The software generates a list of GoldenRam parts that are compatible with the customer’s computer. The customer can buy those parts online and book an appointment with a “techie” who will install the upgrade or make the repair,often within a day.
GoldenRam seeks to eliminate having two trips for technicians,one to diagnose the problem and the second to come back with parts to fix it.
All of the techies work as independent contractors and live all over the country. GoldenRam takes a cut of their fee.
“The advantage is that you can get a U.S.-based tech support service,” Zomaya said. “We don’t outsource anything.”
GoldenRam operates out of a 43,000-square-foot building in Irvine.
Zomaya plans to get the word out through e-mail blasts, radio broadcasts, Internet radio announcements, Podcasts and word-of-mouth, he said.
Ingram Micro Earnings
Santa Ana-based Ingram Micro Inc., the largest distributor of technology products, last month reported strong third-quarter results that beat expectations. The company also confirmed its outlook for the current quarter.
Third-quarter net income came in at $58.5 million, up 21% from a year earlier and above Wall Street’s expected $55 million. The results include stock compensation expenses of $6.5 million.
Ingram is considered a bellwether for the tech industry,its business often is seen as an indication of sales for computer makers and other technology companies.
Sales for the quarter were $7.5 billion, up 8% from a year earlier.
Ingram saw “double-digit operating income growth” in its key North American and European operations, Chief Executive Gregory Spierkel said.
The company’s overall gross profit margin,a key figure in an industry known for slim profits,was 5.4% in the third quarter, down 9 basis points from a year earlier and up 10 basis points from the second quarter.
For the current quarter, Ingram said it expects sales of $8.4 billion to $8.6 billion. Wall Street on average expected $8.4 billion in quarterly revenue.
Net income could come in at $85 million to $92 million, with the consensus of analysts in the middle of that range.
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