EMC Corporation

EMC Corporation was the world's largest data storage company. EMC captured the growing demand for data storage as it racked up 46 consecutive profitable quarters from 1990 to 2001. During the 1990s, EMC performed better than all other companies with 10-year track records for companies traded on either the New York Stock Exchange or Nasdaq. By supplying the marketplace with innovative and technologically superior data storage products, EMC was able to effectively compete against the market-share leader, IBM. It was so effective that EMC surpassed IBM storage by 1992, and in late 2000 surpassed IBM in market capitalization. With the need for information storage continuing to increase, and EMC continuing to predict revenue growth in the 30 to 35 per cent range, competition continued to try to make inroads in capturing market share. But in late 2001, EMC reported a third quarter loss, and saw its stock price plummet from a high of almost $105 in the latter half of 2000, to a low of almost $10 only one year later. EMC's competitions, mainly IBM, had started to produce more competitive products, both in technology and in price. This fact, combined with the Internet bubble bursting and information technology spending slowing, created a new competitive landscape, in which EMC found itself facing legitimate competition for the first time.