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To: signist who wrote (19674)	3/20/2000 4:21:00 PM
From: Greg h2o	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 42804

<<Nothing really New in the interview..was it?>> well, just some confirmation of the OA spinoff and that it'll occur after the FOCI merger in integrated.... now, i would guess part of that integration would include a new ceo in the near-term...please?

To: signist who wrote (19674)	3/20/2000 4:31:00 PM
From: signist	Respond to of 42804

(REUTERS) 3Com to exit high-end networking business PALO ALTO, Calif., March 20 (Reuters) - 3Com Corp. <COMS.O> plans to exit the high-end networking business, ceding that market to larger competitors such as Cisco Systems Inc., in a series of moves announced on Monday designed to reignite growth. 3Com also said it is selling its dial-up modem business, which has struggled amid falling prices, and its PC card business, to a new company formed by Taiwan's Accton Technology <2345.TW> and Singapore's NatSteel Electronics <NASL.SI>. The new company, yet to be named, will build and sell those products, including those made by U.S. Robotics, which 3Com bought in 1997. In addition to those moves, Santa Clara, Calif.-based 3Com will narrow its focus on high-speed Internet access for the consumer market with DSL and cable modems, on the small and medium-sized business market, as well as on the rapidly growing service provider market with an alliance with Copper Mountain Networks Inc, said Bruce Claflin, 3Com's president and chief operating officer. "We're going to narrow our focus on markets, products and technologies where we can lead," Claflin said in an interview ahead of the announcement planned at a New York City hotel for financial analysts. "We're not going to participate in slow-growth markets where we don't have a strong position." Customer shipments of most models of its PathBuilder and NetBuilder and all models of its CoreBuilder wide area and local area networking products will cease June 20. The moves are the last chapter in a reorganization that began last June when Chairman and Chief Executive Eric Benhamou said 3Com would take a hard look at its business to reignite growth amid stinging competition from Cisco <CSCO.O>, Intel Corp. <INTC.O> and slow-growing markets. The first was the highly successful initial public offering of a 4 percent stake on March 2 of its Palm Inc. unit, the No. 1 maker of electronic organizers. Claflin said that 3Com also plans to move up the date when it spins off the remaining shares to 3Com investors, to its quarter beginning June 1. Initially, Palm had said it expected the spinoff to take place within six months from the date of the IPO. The moves, which will include the movement of 1,600 to 2,000 current employees to the new company and the layoff of 800 to 1000 workers, should be completed by September, Claflin said. 3Com plans to take charges of $200 million to $300 million that will be spread across the current fourth quarter and its fiscal first quarter. "I feel very good about this company's prospects going forward," Claflin said. "Obviously, the Palm IPO has created a lot of shareholder wealth but we knew that was on the first step." 3Com also said it was acquiring closely held Call Technologies Inc., a maker of unified messaging and operational systems and support software products, for about $90 million. It said the deal will add to its Comm Works Total Control platforms, which help service providers offer enhanced services over networks that carry voice, data and video. The moves confirm recent speculation and rumors that 3Com would divest slower-growing businesses, such as its dial-up modem unit, and exit markets where it has had a harder time competing, such as the high-end router and switching market. 3Com stock rose 7/8 to 68-7/8 in late trading on the Nasdaq. The stock has soared this year amid enthusiasm for its Palm IPO. (( duncan.martell@reuters.com // +1 650 846-5401 )) REUTERS * end of story *