Cabletron Announces New Asia Pacific Strategy
Newsbytes - May 18, 1998 11:10
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HONG KONG, CHINA, 1998 MAY 18 (NB) -- By Neil Taylor, IT Daily Following its announcement at last week's Networld + Interop, Cabletron Systems [NYSE:CS] has unveiled its new Smart Networking strategy for the Asia Pacific.
New regional president, John Winchester, outlined the company's Asia strategy as an enhanced service and distribution network, the launch of e-commerce services and a range of new product releases.
Central to the company's new direction are products and technologies acquired through the purchase of Digital's network products business and Gigabit startup Yago Systems. Winchester, who previously headed the Digital network business, said the Digital buy-out had greatly strengthened Cabletron's presence in the region.
He also said that this month's surprise demotion of President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Don Reed and his subsequent replacement by company founder Craig Benson would not effect the company's strategy. "Don was here to define strategies and create business plans," said Winchester. "Craig was brought back to implement the plans. There is no change. Strategies that were defined are strategies that we will go forward with."
Cabletron announced the purchase of Yago, which it had helped fund, in January. The first product to come out of the deal is the SmartSwitch Router, which the company asserts can transmit 15-30 million packets per second. The router is initially shipping with 14 Gigabit Ethernet ports and 56 10/100 ports. A 16 slot version with 30 Gigabit and 120 10/100 ports is due to ship in the second half.
According to Simon Or, general manager for Peoples Republic of China and Hong Kong, Cabletron has already sold 10 of the switches to a Hong Kong shipping company and is also due to announce a deal with a Chinese state-owned petrochemical company. Discussions are also underway with major Cabletron customers, including the Bank of China.
Another new trend for the company is e-commerce, which it plans to implement worldwide within the next six-nine months. The company has set up an Asian distribution center in Singapore in readiness for the e-commerce launch, and it will be sending management staff from the US to oversee its launch. "We are the first networking vendor to invest in a distribution center here in Asia Pacific," said Winchester. "I don't underestimate the importance of e-commerce in Asia."
Currently as much as 90 percent of Cabletron's Asian business is carried out through channel, with most direct sales coming from multinationals expanding their networks into the region. Its greater China business is divided into Hong Kong and Taiwan, aiming primarily at service providers, and China, focusing on government contracts.
However, the company has no plans to expand its distribution into just-in-time manufacturing or assembly. "From a manufacturers point of view, I think we'll consolidate our manufacturing in the US," said Winchester.
The company now provides multilingual technical support services for the region from Sydney. "Whether you're in Beijing, Shanghai, Seoul, you can be instantly routed through to our technical support lines with a local call."
The final step in the new strategy will be in acquisitions, some of which Winchester said will be announced "in a few weeks' time."
Reported by Newsbytes News Network newsbytes.com .
(19980518/WIRES NETWORK, BUSINESS, ASIA/)
ACQUISITIONS ???? DID I READ THAT CORRECTLY ? CS MOVES AHEAD !! |
