Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: drmorgan who wrote (15164)	5/4/1998 12:49:00 AM
From: Moonray	Respond to of 22053

Networking Companies to Target New Markets at Networld+Interop San Francisco, May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Cisco Systems Inc., 3Com Corp., Intel Corp. and other technology leaders will unveil new ways to link computers to corporate networks and the Internet next week at the Networld+Interop 98 show in Las Vegas. The most-watched products at the conference are targeted at opposite ends of the networking market. Equipment that combines voice, data and video traffic on a single network is aimed at phone companies and large businesses, while another set of gear will make it easier for small companies to link to the Web. Sales of networking equipment to companies with less than 500 employees are expected to boom as more businesses use the Internet to cut travel costs and access new customers. Even more growth is seen in sales to telecommunications companies, which will use combined networks to sell more expensive levels of Internet service to corporations. Cisco, 3Com and others are looking for new markets as sales to traditional customers slow. ''All of these companies are looking to expand beyond the (corporate) enterprise market,'' said John Armstrong, an analyst at Gartner Group Inc.'s Dataquest unit. Cisco San Jose, California-based Cisco sells 80 percent of the equipment used by large businesses to route data on their computer networks. Yet the company's sales growth has slowed to about 30 percent from more than 70 percent two years ago. The No. 1 networking company now is looking to boost sales to telecom carriers such as phone companies and Internet service providers, who are expected to spend up to $50 billion annually on networking gear by 2001. On the eve of the Networld show, Cisco this week said it began shipping several products that make it easier for existing customers to combine voice and data traffic on their networks. Large businesses want to combine their network traffic to cut communications costs, while phone companies and ISPs are looking to get in on the surge in Internet-related data traffic. New products set to be unveiled at next week's show include an adapter card that connects to Cisco's most popular remote- access concentrator, used to route Internet calls. The card will let businesses already using Cisco equipment send voice and fax traffic over data networks. ''They're getting all the pieces together for the carrier market,'' said Ray Keneipp, an analyst at market research firm Current Analysis Inc. Ascend Communications Inc. also is expected to unveil similar products, Keneipp said. 3Com, Intel For its part, 3Com said it will ship three new switches for the carrier market, one in June and two in the second half. When used with a large switch 3Com sells for Newbridge Networks Corp. and managed by 3Com network software, the new product will let customers of the second-biggest networking company combine voice, data and video traffic. Santa Clara, California-based 3Com also will unveil a new line of its SuperStack II switches aimed at smaller business customers. And Intel, the world's biggest computer-chip maker, is starting its push into networking as sales in its main business ebb. It will demonstrate its Express Gigabit Switch and a matching adapter card in Las Vegas. Like the new 3Com gear, Intel's switch will move data across corporate networks at speeds as fast as 1,000 megabits per second, 10 times the speed of most existing switches. Businesses have been clamoring for faster switches to unclog mounting Internet-based traffic. ''We're trying to remove the network bottlenecks,'' said Reinier Tuinzing, director of marketing for Santa Clara-based Intel's network product division. The Networld+Interop show, featuring products from more than 600 vendors, runs Monday to Friday at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Other companies demonstrating products include Bay Networks Inc. and Lucent Technologies Inc. o~~~ O