Bad for CSCO again. Another European giant getting in for a very strong competition. Both Castle and Argon have great products. Castle's new Service Mediation Engine can support SS7 to IP and can replace Class5 switches. Argon can give the GSR a run for thier money. Now with both Alcatel and Seimens getting these data networking firms, European networking mkt for CSCO will take a big hit. Looking at it, Asia is still soft, Europe mkt share pretty much gone, and here the GBit startups are taking CAT5/6 share away in droves. AOL is a good example going with Foundry. Maybe that's why many executives sold out a bunch of their shares recently. In contrast to many no-clue analysts that said strong buy, imo, CSCO will face tremendous pricing and revenue pressure going forward. all imo.
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Siemens to expand data networking business-NYTimes
NEW YORK, March 4 (Reuters) - Siemens AG (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: SIEG.F) is about to expand into the data
networking business by creating a new American unit, buying two private U.S. companies, investing in another company and hiring
a senior executive from IBM Corp. (NYSE:IBM - news), the New York Times reported, citing executives close to the
company's planning.
Europe's manufacturing giant is also in preliminary talks with 3Com Corp. (Nasdaq:COMS - news) about paying $1.2 billion for the 3Com unit that sells
networking equipment to phone companies, the executives told the newspaper.
Siemens is expected to announce Monday that it has agreed to buy data networking firms Westford, Mass.-based Castle Networks Inc. for $300 million cash and
Littleton, Mass.-based Argon Networks for $240 million cash, the executives told the New York Times.
It will also announce an agreement to buy a $30 million interest in Moorpark, Calif.-based Accelerated Networks Inc, the newspaper reported.
The company has allocated about three billion Deutsche marks, or $1.7 billion, to invest in its new venture, executives close to Siemens told the New York Times.
Siemens is also considering combining its existing U.S. operations in the venture and then selling stock in the unit later this year, they added.
The manufacturer is also close to hiring Martin Clague, who is the general manger for global network computing solutions at IBM Corp., as chief executive of the
new venture. Clague would be on the board of the new company, executives close to the company said in a statement.
A deal with 3Com would be for cash, and executives close to the talks told the New York Times that the nation's second largest U.S. computer networking firm
recently asked Newbridge Networks (Toronto:NNC.TO - news) of Canada if it would be interested in buying the 3Com equipment unit, but Newbridge declined.
An announcement is expected Monday.
Telephone equipment makers have been forced to expand their product lines amid the explosion of the Internet and as the appetite for data grows.
A 3Com spokesman was not immediately available for comment. The company's stock closed down 2-7/16 at 24-9/16 Wednesday. Siemens was last at 53.45
euros in Frankfurt. |
