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To: Mang Cheng who wrote (9609)	11/3/1997 7:53:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 45548

Special Focus: Intel makes inroads in the LAN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Jodi Daniels 10/27/97 Intel Corp. is in the process of changing its image of being mainly a processor maker. The chip king this year has made a serious push in the network market by sinking more than $125 million into acquisitions and investments as well as partnering with fellow titans such as Cisco Systems, Inc. and Compaq Computer Corp. Intel's goal is for customers to think of the company not just when it comes to chips, but also when it comes to hubs, switches and network interface cards (NIC). 'Intel probably sees networking as the No. 1 way to build business outside of its core processor business,' says Greg Lang, business unit manager for network infrastructure operation in Intel's network product division. 'Intel's network products division started up in 1990, but it wasn't until recently that this area became strategic for us.' Some industry observers say they initially did not take Intel seriously in the network arena. 'When Intel started dropping prices [on NICs and hubs], people thought the company would just spark the industry and then back out of the market,' says Diane Myers, senior analyst at In-Stat, Inc., a consulting firm in Scottsdale, Ariz. 'But you can tell from their acquisition strategy that Intel is in this [network infrastructure market] to stay.' Just ask Intel's competitors in the LAN workgroup market. 'Clearly, anything Intel does relative to desktops is important,' said John Hart, 3Com Corp. senior vice president and chief technical officer, in a recent interview. 'So we're certainly watching them.' Intel invasion Suddenly, Intel has become a thorn in the side of 3Com and Bay Networks, Inc., both of which are going hard after the workgroup market. 'If you talk to anyone from 3Com or Bay, they are very cognizant of what's going on with Intel,' Myers says. 'They probably would rather not worry about Intel, especially when [3Com and Bay] are also trying to focus on the high end of the market.' But Intel's network products division - which reported revenue of $500 million last year - already has its sights set solely on the workgroup market and has made some significant inroads. For example, Intel was second only to 3Com in Fast Ethernet NIC market share for the second quarter, with 3Com garnering 42.7% and Intel capturing 33.6%, according to In-Stat. This compares with Intel's 29.3% share and 3Com's 50% share in the previous quarter. But Intel has been less successful on the hub and switch front, one analyst says.

To: Mang Cheng who wrote (9609)	11/3/1997 7:58:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 45548

Intel makes inroad in LAN, Part II 'Intel's presence in the networking space is all pretty much on the NIC side at this point in terms of significant market share,' says Esmerelda Silva, an analyst at International Data Corp., a market research firm in Framingham, Mass. 'Within the hub and switch areas, they are obviously plugging along as a second-tier vendor.' Intel took a backseat to 3Com in Fast Ethernet hub sales in the second quarter with 11% of the market. 3Com still is the undisputed leader with 40% of the market share, according to In-Stat. But IDC's numbers show that Intel was the third-largest player in the shared 100Base-T market segment with a 12% share. 3Com led the market with a 33% share, followed by Asante Technologies, Inc. with 13%, Intel and then Bay, which earned an 11% share. Product focus On the switch front, Intel does not really show up yet in market share reports. But that may change be-cause Intel is pushing hard in the LAN switch area. For instance, Intel has an OEM agreement with NBase Communications for its 10M/100M bit/sec Ethernet switch, which has been shipping since the second quarter with Layer 3 capabilities. 'We're actually a very early player in the Layer 3 game,' Lang says. 'We plan to expand those routing functions across the rest of the relevant portions of our product line - such as segment and backbone switches - next month.' Earlier this year, Intel acquired Case Technology, a Scandinavian maker of switches and routers, to help bolster its product portfolio. The first fruits of the deal - including new switch products - will be rolled out by year-end. 'They are a company that a lot of people didn't know about, but they actually have some great Layer 3 and Fast Ethernet switch technology,' Silva says. But she says even with the Case purchase, she wouldn't be surprised if Intel is looking at other switch acquisition opportunities. Intel also stepped up its router offerings when it recently rolled out a software upgrade for its Express Routers that allows customers to create virtual private networks over the Internet. 'We've really made a splash in the small, low-end router space,' Lang says. 'Before our product came out, there was nothing comparable available for less than $5,000. Our product is less than $1,500.' And that's not the first time Intel has had an impact on industry pricing. 'Intel really drove down 10/100 NIC pricing when they dropped their prices back in February, and everyone else was forced to line up and match their price or be left behind,' Myers says. 'That helped the market really take off above and beyond anyone's expectations. The same thing happened on

To: Mang Cheng who wrote (9609)	11/3/1997 8:02:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 45548

Intel makes inroad to LAN, Part III the hub side when Intel dropped the price of their 10/100 device to $100 per port.' LAN on the motherboard Another key area for Intel will be integration of the LAN on the motherboard. 'PC vendors are going to be delivering more of the network connections in their box as part of the base unit,' Lang says. 'In fact, nine out of the top 10 PC OEMs are already shipping with Intel Ethernet technology.' Lang predicts that more than 50% of the network connections that ship next year will come from PCs that have a preinstalled LAN on the motherboard or an NIC. Unlike some of its competitors that are focused on the workgroup segment on up the network ladder to the enterprise customer, Intel started at the workgroup level and is working its way down to the small office/home office (SOHO) market. That's what the recent Dayna Communications, Inc. acquisition was all about, Lang says. Intel was particularly interested in Dayna's NetCenter line of plug-and-play switches, hubs and routers designed for the SOHO market. 'Intel has great brand-name recognition, which goes a long way in trying to become a major player in networking, particularly in the low-end SOHO market,' Silva says. 'That market is all about brand-name recognition and Intel's name is up there with Coke, which makes them a very attractive vendor.' It certainly does, which is why industry analysts plan to keep Intel right smack dab in the middle of their radar screens. Intel battles networking big four www4.techstocks.com

To: Mang Cheng who wrote (9609)	11/5/1997 3:46:00 PM
From: Pancho Villa	Respond to of 45548

RE: TO ALL >>Murphy likes high-tech now but didn't mention COMS<< I believe this guy Murphy does not know more about tech. stocks than many of the well qualified people at SI. Let me tell you a cuople of stories from a Fidelity sponsored investor coference he attended last April. #1. He said "absolutelly CDMA is not the winning technology we tell our clients to avoid QCOM. TDMA is the winner technology". This was after large scale CDMA networks were already up and running. Check QCOM today. I am glad I did not listen to him on this one. Otherwise I would have gotten rid of shares I had bought at $32 in March 96! #2. Remember how battered the networking to a big hit in the first quarter? Well, I loaded so much on COMS that I got a bit scared and started loading on Cisco at 47-48 in mid-late April. Guess what, someone asked Murphy about networking stocks (this was a couple of weeks before Cisco announced earnings, he said: "the rumor in silicon valley is that Cisco will not make the numbers; so we advice to wait for a last dip after the announcement and then start buying". Guess what, the next week I unloaded Cisco (not my dear COMS thank god!) at 485/8 with the hope of buying it again after the dip I was sure would happen after all Murphy knows better! You know what happened, Cisco made the numbers and I never again saw the stock. The bottom line is that Murphy like any of us is right in somethings and wrong in others. He has to learn the lesson that in the short term no one knows what is going to happen. I like his long term view in Tech and BioTech stocks. But I guess we don't need him to tell as that. Pancho PS: by the way, he was also pushing SYNX very hard (I guess he was long). I just dumped SYNX (at 4.25) which I got before I heard his opinion at 12-15 and held down to it expecting a come back. He also pushes Ross very hard. Let's is if that one is a good one. I have never looked at it.