Fantom Technologies was a Canadian household appliance company that manufactured dual-
cyclonic
In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an anti ...
type
vacuum cleaners
A vacuum cleaner, also known simply as a vacuum, is a device that uses suction, and often agitation, in order to remove dirt and other debris from carpets, hard floors, and other surfaces.
The dirt is collected into a dust bag or a plastic bin ...
, they were inspired from the
Dyson Dyson may refer to:
* Dyson (surname), people with the surname Dyson
* Dyson (company), a Singaporean multinational home appliances company founded by James Dyson
* Dyson (crater), a crater on the Moon
* Dyson (operating system), a Unix general- ...
vacuums (which would not appear in North America until 2002). The company was founded in Welland, Ontario in 1986 as IONA Appliances, with offices in
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...
, United States. Its Fantom Technologies name was adopted in 1995.
Fantom went bankrupt in October 2001 and their vacuums have been considered collector's items since.
History
Foundation and development
In 1989, British-born
James Dyson
Sir James Dyson (born 2 May 1947) is a British inventor, industrial designer, farmer, and business magnate who founded the Dyson company. He is best known as the inventor of the bagless vacuum cleaner, which works on the principle of cyclonic ...
(inventor of dual-cyclone vacuums) and Canada's IONA Appliances (the predecessor of Fantom Technologies) made a
licensing
A license (American English) or licence ( Commonwealth English) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another par ...
deal in which the company would manufacture and sell a line of commercial dual-cyclonic upright vacuums called Vectron, for
SC Johnson Wax, on which Dyson held the
patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an sufficiency of disclosure, enabling discl ...
. Two years later, SC Johnson exited the commercial vacuum business and IONA renamed the vacuums to "Fantom". 1993 brought a successful
infomercial
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of di ...
for the original Fantom vacuum. One year later, the vacuum offered a
HEPA
HEPA (, high efficiency particulate air) filter, also known as a high efficiency particulate arresting filter, is an efficiency standard of air filters.
Filters meeting the HEPA standard must satisfy certain levels of efficiency. Common standa ...
filter as an option. In 1995, the vacuum was renamed the Fantom Thunder (AKA Kenmore Destiny).
Bankruptcy 2001
In October 2001, Fantom Technologies went bankrupt, and the name was sold to
Euro-Pro (owned by Mark Rosenzweig).
James Dyson saw an opportunity and introduced a multi-cyclonic vacuum under the Dyson name in North America in 2002, called the DC07, one year after Fantom went out of business. The Dyson DC07, as well as later Dyson models, would be commercial best-sellers in North America. Today, Fantom vacuums are considered collector's items.
Later models
*''Fantom Fury'' - in 1996, the company introduced the Fantom Fury. The vacuum was smaller than the Thunder unit and was lighter and less expensive. Again, it achieved success through a television infomercial. It was less able to clean carpets due to a weaker motor.
*''Fantom Lightning'' - Fantom Technologies offered a canister-style vacuum in 1998 called the Fantom Lightning. It was sold at a price of $329 through a television infomercial hosted by Jim Caldwell (and produced by his then-business Future Thunder Productions). Again, it sold well, but the vacuum had defects including a like poor handle release on the power nozzle and poor wand and hose design.
*''Fantom Cyclone XT'' - A later model was the Fantom Cyclone XT, released in 1999. Sold again through an infomercial hosted by Cheryl Watson and Jim Caldwell, the vacuum was engineered similar to the Lightning, but as upright. It was successful.
*''Fantom Crosswinds'' - James Dyson ended his partnership with Fantom Technologies in early 2001. That same year, Fantom released a single-cyclone vacuum called the Fantom Crosswinds, which unlike the previous vacuums, was a failure due clogging problems.
*''Fantom Wildcat'' - The Wildcat was a vacuum cleaner which was equivalent to Westinghouse Unplugged.
References
{{reflist
Vacuum cleaner manufacturers
Defunct companies of Ontario
1986 establishments in Ontario
2001 disestablishments in Ontario
Home appliance manufacturers of Canada