Shorts Beware !!
Manila, Aug. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Ascend Communications Inc.
expects sales to remain brisk in Asia as telecommunication
carriers expand their services, an executive said.
``Our most rapid growth .. . is probably occurring in China,
Philippines and Thailand, as these are the markets that are
really beginning to implement remote access and switching
technology in an effort to build their telecommunications
infrastructure,'' Jeff Gustafson, Ascend's marketing manager for
the Asia-Pacific region, told the Bloomberg Forum.
The Alameda, California-based company makes products used by
telephone companies and Internet service providers to build
networks.
Though regional estimates for the whole industry are
unavailable, Gustafson said, growth in the remote accessing
network market in Asia Pacific, excluding Japan, may grow from
between $100 million to $150 million this year to as much as a $1
billion in the next five years.
Ascend estimates it has cornered about 75 percent of that
market. Asia comprises about 20 percent of Ascend International's
sales, which in turn contributes about 40 percent of Ascend
Communications' total business, said Ken Kan, the company's
general manager for South Asia. Ascend's net sales in 1996
totaled $549.3 million.
Ascend is planning to open two offices in Thailand and the
Philippines before the end of this year to support the sales
expected in both countries. Currently, the company's biggest
markets in the region are in Malaysia and Australia.
Gustafson said that the carriers from some countries in the
region, particularly India and Indonesia, where ``disappointingly
slow'' in offering new services such as Integrated Switch Digital
Network or ISDN and frame relay.
Another factor that may boost the company's performance in
the region is the introduction of the products of Cascade
Communications Inc. following the acquisition of Cascade by
Ascend in June.
Cascade makes frame relay switches and asynchronous transfer
mode switches, products used mostly by North American telephone
companies in sending large amounts of data over long distances.
``The largest growth opportunity for Cascade products is
international, especially in Asia where cascade products are
really infrastructure products,'' he said. ``ATM and frame relay
data switches is something a lot of carriers are just beginning
to implement.'' |
