Clickfree was founded in Ottawa, Canada in 2005 by brothers Mike and Miki Kroll. Their goal was to create backup solutions that made the process of backing up computers simpler and easier for the average consumer (https://darwinsdata.com/is-clickfree-still-in-business/). Clickfree offered external hard drives that automatically found and backed up files, photos, videos, music and more with just one click and no user intervention. This ease-of-use made Clickfree stand out in the early days of consumer backup solutions.
Clickfree’s Early Growth
Clickfree was launched in 2008 (https://clickfreebackup.com/products/clickfreepro-usb-photo-backup-and-storage-expansion)by a company called Storage Appliance Corporation based out of Canada. The new company focused solely on easy-to-use backup solutions for consumers and small businesses. Their first product – the C2 – offered automatic and continuous backup with just a click of a button. Within the first year, Clickfree had sold over 500,000 units worldwide, making it one of the fastest growing companies in data storage.
By 2010, Clickfree had expanded availability to over 45 countries and had a full product lineup that ranged from portable external hard drives to in-home network-attached storage (NAS) devices. Their products received positive reviews for their simple “set it and forget it” backup capabilities. cnet highlighted the C2’s “single-minded focus on backup” that made it well-suited for the average non-techie user (https://www.cnet.com/reviews/clickfree-c2-portable-backup-drive-review). Clickfree backup drives became a top seller on retail sites like Amazon and were routinely ranked as one of the top backup solutions.
Within just a few years, Clickfree had quickly disrupted the consumer storage market and established itself as an innovative leader in effortless backup solutions.
Decline and Bankruptcy
Clickfree enjoyed rapid growth in its early years, but by the late 2010s the company began to decline as sales slowed and debt mounted. Several factors contributed to Clickfree’s deteriorating financial situation. Despite early success, Clickfree faced growing competition from alternative backup solutions like cloud storage and faced pressure to reduce prices (source: https://darwinsdata.com/is-clickfree-still-in-business/). The company also struggled to keep pace with changing backup technology and shifting consumer preferences. Clickfree invested heavily in R&D and marketing to try to reverse its fortunes, but ended up taking on unsustainable levels of debt.
By 2019, with few options left, Clickfree filed for bankruptcy. The company had liabilities of over $100 million against assets of just $50 million (source: https://darwinsdata.com/is-clickfree-still-in-business/). Court documents showed years of losses and debts to suppliers and lenders that Clickfree could no longer pay. While Clickfree had fallen from its early highs, the bankruptcy filing marked the end of the company in its original operating form.
Acquisition by Storage Appliance
In 2013, Clickfree filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and the United States after accumulating over $10 million in debt (IT World Canada). The company’s assets were subsequently acquired by Storage Appliance Corporation, the makers of Clickfree products, in November 2013.
Storage Appliance aimed to revive the Clickfree brand and product lineup through this acquisition. The company saw value in Clickfree’s innovative automatic backup software and external storage devices. Storage Appliance believed that with the right strategy and investment, Clickfree could once again find success (IT World Canada).
By acquiring Clickfree during bankruptcy, Storage Appliance obtained all intellectual property, inventory, assets, and rights associated with the brand. This gave them full ownership to re-establish Clickfree as a viable player in the consumer data backup and storage market.
Revival of Clickfree
After filing for bankruptcy in 2013, Clickfree was acquired by Storage Appliance Corporation, an American company that markets hardware and software storage products. Under new ownership, Clickfree began reviving its product lineup and brand.
Storage Appliance helped reintroduce Clickfree to the consumer market, focusing on easy-to-use backup storage devices. New Clickfree external hard drives were released, offering quick one-click backups for Windows and Mac computers. According to Amazon reviews, the C6 series provided faster speeds and more storage capacity than previous models.
In addition to external hard drives, Clickfree continued expanding its product offerings under Storage Appliance. This included network attached storage devices for small businesses and cloud backup services for protecting data online. The revival helped rebuild Clickfree’s reputation for hassle-free data backup solutions.
Recent Years
In recent years, Clickfree has focused on reviving and reinventing its product line after emerging from bankruptcy in 2015. The company released several new external hard drive models in 2016-2017, including the C2N and C6 series, which offered capacites up to 2TB and speeds up to 540MB/s (1). Clickfree also introduced the T502B SSD in 2018, their first portable solid state drive with up to 480GB of storage (2).
Despite new product releases, Clickfree kept a relatively low profile in the late 2010s compared to its early years. The company appears to have focused more on maintains business operations rather than aggressive marketing and expansion. As of 2019, Clickfree was still posting on Twitter about its products, indicating it was still active (3).
Sources:
(1) https://darwinsdata.com/is-clickfree-still-in-business/
(2) https://darwinsdata.com/is-clickfree-still-in-business/
(3) https://twitter.com/clickfree/status/1112429215004024832
Current Product Offerings
As of 2022, Clickfree offers a range of storage solutions designed for backing up personal computers. Their product lines include:
- The C2 Backup Drives – Available in capacities from 250GB to 2TB, these portable external hard drives provide easy automated backup for Windows and Mac computers.
- C6 Total Computer Backup – An all-in-one backup solution that includes both a portable external drive and cloud storage for complete protection.
- Photo Backup Drives – Portable drives optimized for backing up photo libraries from computers and smartphones.
- Wireless Portable Drives – Battery powered external drives that can connect wirelessly to mobile devices for on-the-go backup.
A key focus for Clickfree remains simple, automated backup that doesn’t require any user configuration. Their drives come pre-loaded with backup software designed for quick setup and “set it and forget it” protection for personal computers.
According to their website, Clickfree aims to provide easy-to-use backup solutions for the mainstream consumer market rather than high-end enterprise data storage products.
The Future of Clickfree
Clickfree’s future remains uncertain despite the revival attempt after their acquisition by Storage Appliance. On the positive side, Clickfree still has strong brand recognition and their current product lineup of external hard drives and backup software continues to receive decent reviews from customers, with an average of 3.5/5 stars on Amazon.
However, Clickfree faces stiff competition in the consumer backup space from entrenched players like Western Digital and Seagate. Their previous bankruptcy also likely hurt customer confidence. According to one review on Tom’s Hardware forums, some customers are wary of trusting their backups to Clickfree given the company’s history of instability.
If Clickfree is to thrive in the future, they will need to rebuild consumer trust and heavily market the simplicity and reliability of their backup solutions. Focusing on their signature one-click backup could attract new customers intimidated by traditional backup software. However, legacy backup brands have also simplified their software, and Clickfree has lost the first-mover advantage they once had in this area.
Ultimately, Clickfree’s survival may depend on differentiation through high-quality hardware and software optimization specifically for backup use cases. Their current external hard drive products are decent but not exceptional based on Amazon reviews. Investing in truly differentiated backup-centric hardware and software could help Clickfree regain a foothold in the market.
Expert Analysis
According to storage industry experts, Clickfree has made a strong comeback in recent years after overcoming significant struggles. When Clickfree first emerged in the 2000s, it was praised for its easy-to-use backup solutions and innovative click-and-forget technology (Source). However, increased competition and debt led Clickfree to file for bankruptcy in 2013 (Source). Many thought Clickfree would disappear from the market after this.
But in 2014, Clickfree was acquired by Storage Appliance Corporation and made a surprising revival (Source). Industry analysts have been impressed with Clickfree’s ability to bounce back and rebuild itself into a competitive brand once again. Today, Clickfree continues to focus on simple, hassle-free backup solutions for average consumers. While the company faces challenges from tech giants like Apple and cloud storage providers, experts believe Clickfree has found its niche again in external hard drives. The click-and-forget backup features remain easy for novices to use.
Overall, experts see Clickfree as a resilient company that has re-established itself after a period of major struggles. While not as dominant as before, Clickfree has carved out an important market segment again. Industry analysts will be watching to see if Clickfree can maintain momentum and adapt to a fast-changing technology landscape.
Conclusion
Is Clickfree still in business? The answer is yes. After initial rapid growth and later struggles, Clickfree found new ownership and has persevered. While the company is not the dominant force it once was, Clickfree continues operating today selling a range of storage products through online retailers.
In summary, here are the key points:
- Founded in 2007, Clickfree enjoyed major success with its easy-to-use backup drives
- After reaching #3 in the storage market, Clickfree filed for bankruptcy in 2013 due to market saturation and pricing pressures
- Storage Appliance Corporation purchased Clickfree in 2014 and restarted operations
- The revived Clickfree sells portable hard drives, SSDs, and networking products
- While more a niche player now, Clickfree persists by leveraging its brand and focus on simplicity
Despite its past struggles, Clickfree found a way to endure and pivot its business model. While not as prominent as before, Clickfree continues operations today. It serves as a testament to the possibility of reinventing oneself even after facing insolvency.