I believe the Reuters story was old news again. Look at this old press release from COMS:
Wires for COMS
SANTA, CLARA, CALIF. (April 7) BUSINESS WIRE -April 7, 1997--
Product breadth, superior migration and intelligent system
software combine to build 10/100/1000 Mbps scalable Ethernet
networks for emerging advanced applications
Taking an early lead in the Gigabit Ethernet market -- forecasted to grow
from approximately $61 million in 1997 to $977 million by 2000-(a) --
3Com Corp. (NASDAQ:COMS) today announced the industry's first complete
Gigabit Ethernet system solution. Comprised of five new offerings, the
system will support bandwidth-intensive, delay-sensitive applications
by providing complete solutions across the full "bandwidth hierarchy"
of shared 10 megabit-per-second (Mbps) through switched 1 gigabit-per-second
(Gbps) Ethernet speeds.
3Com also announced new, breakthrough pricing for its suite of
market-leading SuperStack II stackable switches, starting at just $99
per port for desktop switching. 3Com, the first vendor to break the $100
per port price barrier, is pioneering the widespread deployment of affordable
switching technology for the entire price- sensitive edge of the network.
In addition, 3Com today announced its intent to provide industry-leading
Gigabit Ethernet and Fast Ethernet wire-speed LAN routing solutions that
will support more than 30 million packets per second in the first half
of 1998.
"With our new Gigabit Ethernet products and new pricing for SuperStack
II Switches, 3Com continues its leadership in building advanced, scalable
Ethernet systems," said Ron Sege, senior vice president, 3Com Systems.
"3Com is driving down the cost of desktop switching, which customers
need to support delay-sensitive and bandwidth-intensive applications,
such as corporate intranets and multi-media over the internet. Lower
costs will drive ubiquitous switching, necessitating higher capacity 'backbone'
networks, such as Gigabit Ethernet, to aggregate higher-speed switched
desktop traffic. 3Com has the only complete solution to address these
emerging requirements for this fast-growing market."
With more than 2 million Gigabit-Ready 3Com switch ports already installed
on its SuperStack II Ethernet and Fast Ethernet stackable switches, and
32.5 percent-(a) share of the stackable systems market, 3Com expects to
drive the market transition to widespread desktop switching and, in turn,
next-generation Gigabit networks. This
represents enormous potential, as the entire Switched Ethernet
(10/100/1000 Mbps) market is estimated to grow at 29.4 percent per year,
from $6.8 billion in 1997 to $8.8 billion in 1998.-(a) Leading the industry
in end-to-end Gigabit Ethernet switching
3Com's new system will uniquely provide Gigabit speeds at virtually every
network point to ensure unrestrained switched LAN performance. The new
products will include High-Function and Boundary Switches and a new network
interface card (NIC) for backbone, wiring closet and server connectivity.
Leveraging customers' previous investments in 3Com equipment, the new
products will work with existing 3Com SuperStack II and CoreBuilder switches
and EtherLink NICs.
New, industry-leading capabilities will include asynchronous transfer
mode (ATM) and Gigabit Ethernet coexistence, switched FDDI-to-Gigabit
Ethernet connectivity, performance migration from virtually any LAN technology,
and the ability to control network bandwidth. The new products will also
be the first to combine the benefits of Gigabit Ethernet -- simpler and
lower-cost next- generation network capacity -- with robust, software-based
system functions.
Powered by 3Com's TranscendWare intelligent software, 3Com's new products
address the three key challenges customers face today: scaling network
performance, introducing and monitorinng global policies, and supporting next-generation applications. TranscendWare
intelligent software will provide advanced functionality -- such as Fast
IP switching, Class of Service and Quality of Service, end-to-end RMON
(remote monitoring), and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).
3Com's new products will include: -- SuperStack II Switch 9000 SX (available
Q3CY97), U.S. list price: $19,995 -- SuperStack II Switch Gigabit Ethernet
Module SX (available Q3CY97), U.S. list price: $2,995 -- CoreBuilder
7800 Gigabit Ethernet Interface Card (available Q4CY97), U.S. list price:
$18,000. -- CoreBuilder 5000 Gigabit Ethernet Module (available Q1CY98),
U.S. list price: $5,000 -- Gigabit EtherLink PCI NIC (available Q3CY97),
pricing not yet available Low-priced
Gigabit-ready switches facilitate support for advanced applications
By lowering the cost of desktop and workgroups (i.e., segment)
switching, 3Com will make the power of intranets and multimedia computing
affordable for virtually all users, while providing the required migration
to higher-performance Gigabit Ethernet. New pricing includes: -- Dedicated
Ethernet to the Desktop with the SuperStack II Desktop Switch (24 port).
U.S. list price from April 1: $2,475 ($99/port). -- Ethernet segment
switching with SuperStack II Switch 1000. Five 24 port switches bundled
for the cost of four at $17,000 ($136/port). Available now until May
31. U.S. list price per unit: $4, 250 ($170/port). U.S. list price on
12 port model from April 1: $2,495 ($192/port). -- Fast Ethernet switching
for connecting workgroups or desktop switches to server farms with the
SuperStack II Switch 3000. Three 12 port switches bundled for the cost
of two at $13,990.
($389/port). Available now until May 31. U.S. list price on 12 port
model from April 1: $6,995 ($583/port). U.S. list price on 8 port model
from April 1: $3,995 ($500/port).
3Com Corp. has helped more than 50 million people gain access to critical
information through high-speed networks. Designed to serve large enterprises,
service providers, small offices and homes, 3Com products provide a scaleable
architecture to meet the present and future connectivity needs of today's
users. With research and
development on three continents, 3Com is one of the data networking industry's
largest and fastest growing companies. 3Com's innovative marketing, engineering,
sales and support simplify communication, optimize network reliability
and protect customer investments. For further information on this announcement,
visit 3Com's World Wide Web site: 3com.com .
-0-
3Com, EtherLink, and SuperStack are registered trademarks and
CoreBuilder and TranscendWare are trademarks of 3Com Corp. All other
names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.
-(a) Indicates Dell'Oro Group figures.
--30--lm/bos* ld/bos
CONTACT: 3Com Public Relations
Maureen Liberty, 508-490-5859
maureen_liberty@3mail.3com.com
or
Julia Kisch, +44 (0) 1442 438273
julia_kisch@3mail.3com.com
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: COMED COMPUTERS/ELECTRONICS TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERACTIVE/MULTIMEDIA/INTERNET
REPEATS: New York 212-752-9600 or 800-221-2462; Boston 617-236-4266 or
800-225-2030; SF 415-986-4422 or 800-227-0845; LA 310-820-9473 Today's
News On The Net - Business Wire's full file on the Internet
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