David, !!!! ***** HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU TOO ***** !!!!
Friday, January 02, 1998
"Network stocks hope for a better 1998"
Eric C. Fleming
The $119 billion networking industry was the poorest
performer among Inter@ctive Investor's 18 technology
indexes this year, falling 4.9 percent for the year. Why?
A switchover to a new switching technology and the
direct impact from Asia, for starters.
Industry heavyweights such as 3Com Corp. and
Cabletron Systems Inc., had an especially rough year.
However, Cisco Systems Inc. made some headway
and took the lead in pushing the industry toward
switched networks from the now antiquated shared
media networks. The push, however, drained profits
from many companies when the Asian economic crisis
hit.
3Com and Cabletron struggled amid troubles in Asia,
competition with one another and inventory problems.
3Com blamed the transition to switched networks and
lagging Asian sales for its 91 percent fall in profit, to
$0.05 a share, in the second quarter from $0.50 the
year before. On the year, 3Com's stock fell to $34.44,
a 53 percent drop, from $73.38 for the year, as of Dec.
29.
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