SyQuest to Shut Down, May File Bankruptcy

SyQuest Technology Inc., once the pioneer in removable storage devices for personal computers, said it would shutter its doors and may file for bankruptcy. The announcement caps months of struggle for the 16-year-old company that was once the vanguard in its industry, which never took off as SyQuest and its principal competitor, Roy, Utah-based Iomega Corp., expected it would. Its loss for the third quarter, including a charge, was $42.5 million, or 42 cents a diluted share, almost as much as its revenue of $44.7 million. SyQuest’s stock, which traded for about $19 in August 1995, fell to 34 cents before trading on Nasdaq was halted pending the announcement. Company officials were not immediately available to elaborate.