Storage Technology Corp has become a bundle of hopes postponed, and the company is taking a battering in the market for having made too many bullish noises about its Iceberg disk array subsystem and continuing demand for its tape libraries: the shares tumbled another $3.75 to $33.50 on Friday after the company warned that current estimates indicate that second-quarter results will likely be below its previous expectations and below first-quarter levels; it expects things to improve later this year but only to the point where the outturn matches that for 1991; the company blames continuing softness in orders for the 4400 Automated Cartridge System, which it puts down to continuing recessionary trends, and to customer hesitation ahead of IBM Corp’s announcement, and competitive pressures, particularly in Europe; lower manufacturing volumes also meant that overheads were spread over fewer sales; the XL/Datacomp subsidiary continues to perform below initial expectations, but the company expects the unit to make some contribution.
