"Vendors Slash Modem Prices"
(06/29/98; 12:24 p.m. ET)
By Todd Wasserman, Computer Retail Week
Modem prices continued to decline this month as five
vendors dropped prices by $20 or more, according to
analyst ARS.
3Com, Motorola, Boca Research, Hayes, and Zoom
Telephonics all dropped the street prices on their
56-kilobit-per-second modems by $20 or more over
May and June.
Santa Clara, Calif.-based 3Com lowered prices on four
V.90 modems this month, including a price cut on its
external V.90 voice data/fax modem, from a $159
estimated street price to a $130 ESP.
Motorola, in Schaumberg, Ill., which shuttered its retail
modem business, cut the ESPs on its VoiceSurfr
K56flex modems from $109 to $86.
Boca Raton, Fla.-based Boca Research, which recently
bought former rival Global Village, reduced the ESPs
on four of its modems, including its V.90/K56flex
Home Office Modem, which fell from $139 to $118.
Hayes, in Norcross, Ga., cut the price on its Practical
Peripherals ProClass PC Card K56flex from $199 to
$149. Zoom slashed the ESP on its Faxmodem
V.90/K56flex from $139 to $110.
Eric Kitchens, an ARS analyst, attributed the price cuts
to slower-than-expected sales of V.90 modems. "It
seems to be taking a lot longer for [V.90 modems] to
take over the way many had anticipated," he said.
This week, 3Com attributed a drag on its most recent
earnings to the same factor, and modem chip maker
Rockwell International cited slow V.90 sales in its
decision to lay off 10 percent of its workforce.
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