Fred, interesting article...Intel Shipping Fast Ethernet Switch.
Intel Sets Switch Price Point, With Bay Networks Closing In
By Christine Casatelli, TechWire
Intel has gotten the jump among Fast Ethernet products by announcing it is shipping a 10/100-megabit-per-second Fast Ethernet switch for a relatvely low $5,000.
But Bay Networks may end up jumpstarting the whole market with a similar Fast Ethernet switch at less than half that price if and when it meets its upcoming delivery date.
Intel's Express Fast Ethernet switch based on Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) technology contains eight 10/100-Mbps ports and costs roughly $625 per port. Bay's proposed 10/100 Fast Ethernet switch, also based on ASIC technology, will supposedly offer an eight-port autosensing 10/100-Mbps Ethernet switch at less than $250 price per port. Most of today's Fast Ethernet switches cost between $800 and $900 per port, analysts said.
Bay will drive its switch price down by using ASIC technology, acquired in December from the purchase of NetICs Inc. That technooloy lets several key functions be integrated onto a single chip instead of across several chips. The company may also consider trimming its product margins to get the price less than the promised $250-per-port range.
Although Bay targeted the first quarter of 1997 for the product launch, the company said it had readjusted the release date to late April or early May. "The release of the Intel product is not a driving factor in speeding up the release," one company official said.
Intel's Express 10/100 Fast Ethernet Switch's 10- or 100-Mbps autosensing operation is said to offer businesses more flexibility in growing their networks by letting each port operate automatically at either 10- or 100-Mbps speeds. For mixed environments, the switch's 10- or 100-Mbps autosensing allows migration of segments to Fast Ethernet while maintaining connections with 10-Mbps LANs. As switching needs increase, the product's two expansion slots can be used to install four more ports. These optional four ports can be a combination of 10/100Base-TX and 100Base-FX.
Key to the Bay technology is the ability to future-proof 10/100-Mbps switches with auto-negotiation port technology and autosense full-duplex/half-duplex transmission detection. The result is that users can evolve from segment switching, to 10-Mbps switching, to 100-Mbps switching without replacing the switch. By changing the speed of their network interface cards, they automatically upgrade their end-to-end network speed.
Assuming that these two 10/100 Fast Ethernet switch products contain similar functions, because Bay has dropped the gauntlet at $250 per port should electrify the nascent workgroup switch market, said Diane Myers, senior analyst at In-Stat Inc., a Scottsdale, Ariz., market research company that specializes in networking product and the semiconductor industry.
"A lot of these switch companies are enjoying pretty nice margins for these types of products," Myers said. "With the planning a product that is less than $250 per port, you will see these companies follow and drop their prices."
Intel may have an initial advantage in that it is shipping its Fast Ethernet now, and Bay is still working out the kinks, Myers said. "You have to take it with a grain of salt when there's no product."
According to a report by market research company International Data Corp., Framingham, Mass., the switched 100Base-T market is expected to grow from more than $700 million in 1997 to more than $2.5 billion in 2000.
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Just another growing market, intel might as well make a few million.
Regards, Michael
p.s. Fred, remind me in the future never to disagree with you. I've had enough humility training. grin
Regards, Michael |
