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To: Harold S. who wrote (595)	11/24/1997 8:56:00 PM
From: Captain James T. Kirk	Respond to of 1629

techstocks.com

To: Harold S. who wrote (595)	11/25/1997 9:31:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Intel infiltrates LAN This has been a big NW year for Intel. Here's a list of the key acquisitions and pasrtnerships Intel made just in 97 to better position itself in the LAN workgroup market Jan 97 Announced $72 MM acq. of Case Tech., a switch and router vendor. Invested $52 MM for a 12% interest in Xircom, a maker of mobile comm product. Announced an OEM agreement w/ NBase for its 10M/100Mbps Ether switch. Apr 97 Partnered w/ Cisco for GBE tech. Sept 97 Announced acq. of small business NW Dayna COmm for an undisclosed sum. Partnered w/ CPQ to jointly develop & market GBE, xDSL, and RAS products.

To: Harold S. who wrote (595)	11/25/1997 9:33:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

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. '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.'

To: Harold S. who wrote (595)	11/25/1997 9:35:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Intel makes inroads, Part II 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 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.

To: Harold S. who wrote (595)	11/25/1997 9:37:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Intel battles networking big four By Ben Heskett November 3, 1997, 12:20 p.m. PT Intel (INTC) says it will continue its barrage of networking products next year, heightening the chip giant's play for a piece of the huge infrastructure market. The microprocessor kingpin has already made its mark in the PC card market, driving down prices this year in a battle for supremacy vs. 3Com. The company has also had success in shared media hardware for small businesses, moving into a number two position vs. 3Com in shared 100 mbps (megabits per second) gear, according to data from market researcher International Data Corporation (IDC). That gear, called "hubs," allows multiple machines to connect to an Ethernet pipe. Now the company hopes to round out the progress it made this year in shaping a strategy for medium-sized businesses with tools that deliver higher speeds and more manageability between network connections. Reinier Tuinzing, director of strategic marketing for Intel's networking products division, said, "Now what we're going to do is add depth to our 1997 strategy." The move signals that the company will battle more often with the Big Four entrenched networking stalwarts--3Com, Cisco Systems, Bay Networks, and Cabletron Systems -- for a larger piece of the networking gear market for mid-sized departments within corporations and small campus networks. At the heart of this high-speed push is Gigabit Ethernet, an emerging standard for next-generation Ethernet that delivers data at rates of 1,000 mbps. Intel will both deliver hardware to connect servers to networks and also provide links within its switching hardware to handle the higher speeds. Both of those features are likely to be available in the first half of next year. Said Tuinzing, "Gigabit is sort of at the forefront of our minds right now." For some, the focus on switching cannot come soon enough if Intel is serious about its infrastructure strategy. Esmerelda Silva, analyst with IDC, said, "Intel still has a long ways to go in terms of becoming a major player in the [local area]

To: Harold S. who wrote (595)	11/25/1997 9:39:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 1629

Intel battles NW big 4, part II switching area. I would like to see from them a lot more on the switching side." Silva also wonders how Intel will adapt from focusing on the PC card race vs. 3Com to delivering a total package of products to build a network for departments and workgroups. "It's a very different play for them," she said. First out the door in the first quarter of next year will be a server adapter line with gigabit speeds, according to Intel. Links in switches and a gigabit-centric switch will follow soon after. In the first half of next year, customers will also see the fruits of Intel's acquisition of Dayna Communications, part of the company's play for the small business market. Intel also stressed the company's push to expand the manageability of the network, and by extension, the connected desktop through Web-based software tools. Those tools will eventually allow an administrator to drill beyond network elements to Intel desktops to view information--such as available memory--in a single application. The company also plans to extend the performance and feature sets of its networking cards now that it is delivering networking capabilities within a single PC card chip. Intel's Tuinzing said, "You can't isolate the desktop from the rest of the network." Noted Silva: "They have made inroads. You are not dealing with a vendor that's going to go away in a couple of years." Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer Network.