3Com Achieves Unprecedented Market Share Leadership in Ethernet Technologies
Company's Enterprise LAN Solutions Win Top Billing in Each Key Workgroup Segment
SANTA CLARA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 11, 1998--Global networking leader 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS - news) has achieved unprecedented market share leadership in Ethernet technologies by becoming the first vendor to achieve top positions in ten categories of Ethernet technology for the LAN workgroup. The company's success, verified by the latest report for Q1CY98 from market analysts, The Dell'Oro Group and In-Stat, is based on increasing customer demand for its market-leading SuperStack(R) II 10/100/1,000 Mbps enterprise workgroup networking solutions, OfficeConnect(R) small business networking solutions, and Fast EtherLink(R) XL desktop NICs and ASICs. Achieving market share leadership in more Ethernet categories than any other vendor, 3Com is followed by Bay Networks with three categories and Cisco with two categories of leadership. At the desktop, 3Com has achieved dramatic market share gains and leadership in NICs and, for the first time, market share leadership in networking ASIC silicon. This combined success confirms that 3Com has clearly achieved leadership in Ethernet, the most popular local area networking technology for business enterprises.
''3Com has extended its market share leadership position not only in legacy 10 Mbps Ethernet technologies but also with significant market share gains in new, higher-performance, 100 Mbps and 1,000 Mbps Ethernet technologies. By taking early market share leadership in the new, dynamically growing Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet segments, 3Com is best-positioned to lead the industry in the next technology wave -- converged voice, video and data networks.'' commented Edgar Masri, 3Com senior vice president and general manager.
3Com Ethernet Market Share Leadership Highlights
The following market share leadership achievements were included in the Dell'Oro report for Q1CY98.
Fixed Configuration Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet Switching: 3Com achieved 25 percent share to claim early market share leadership in this emerging market by becoming the first major vendor to ship stackable Layer 2 Gigabit Ethernet switches in volume. No other vendor achieved sufficient port shipments to be named in this report.
Fixed Configuration Layer 2 Fast Ethernet Switching: Within two years of launching its first Fast Ethernet switching solution, 3Com has achieved market share leadership in this dynamic new market sector with 31 per cent share based on high demand for its new SuperStack II Switch 3300 solutions. 3Com has consistently eroded Bay Networks' performance in Fast Ethernet switching (now down to 25 percent in Q1CY98 from 40 percent in Q4CY97).
Fixed Configuration Managed Shared Fast Ethernet: Based on increased demand for the new SuperStack II Dual Speed Hub 500 and existing SuperStack II Hub 100 solutions, 3Com exceeded market expectations by achieving 67 per cent share, with its nearest rival Bay Networks at 9 per cent market share.
Fixed Configuration Unmanaged Shared Ethernet: 3Com claims a market share leadership position of 23 per cent share in this segment, with its nearest rival, Allied Telysyn now down to 21 per cent share in Q1CY98. 3Com's SuperStack II Baseline and OfficeConnect hubs are key solutions for this market segment, which mainly serves medium-sized enterprises and small businesses.
Fixed Configuration Managed Shared Ethernet: 3Com maintains market share leadership here with 31 percent share -- almost double the market share of its nearest competitor, Bay Networks at 16 percent share.
Fixed Configuration Unmanaged Shared Fast Ethernet: Achieving market share leadership here with 34 per cent share, 3Com also now challenges the second tier vendors (such as Accton at 29 percent share) in their established market space.
Fixed Configuration Layer 2 Ethernet Switching: As the cost of Ethernet Switching continues to decline, fueling customer demand for fully switched networks, 3Com maintains 28.9 percent share leadership in this fiercely competitive sector. While Cisco, also at 28.9 percent share, has competed aggressively in this sector, it was unable to seize overall market share leadership from 3Com while Bay lost share, now down to 10 percent from 14 percent market share in Q4CY97.
The following market share leadership achievements were included in the In-Stat report for Q1CY98.
LAN-On-Motherboard (LOM): Due to strong preference for 3Com branded networking among end users, PC OEMs increasingly turn to 3Com for LOM solutions. For the first time, 3Com has become the world's largest supplier of networking ASIC silicon with a 33% share of the fast-growing 10/100 LOM segment. The nearest competitor, Intel, has dropped to 28% in this market.
10/100 Fast Ethernet NICs: In-Stat characterizes the Fast Ethernet NIC market taking off with 3Com in the lead. The new Fast EtherLink XL NICs have proven increasingly popular leading to an overall strength of 56 percent of the market with Intel trailing at just 22 percent. This 12 percent share gain over Intel from Q4CY97 demonstrates that enterprise customers increasingly choose 3Com NICs for their performance and innovation.
10Mbps Ethernet NICs: 3Com has maintained its large market share leadership and customer brand preference in this segment with 46% of the market choosing 3Com branded NICs.
''In our latest market research study, User Plans for High-Performance LANs 1998, Ethernet is the dominant LAN technology for desktop connections in enterprise networks. End-users are rapidly moving towards higher-speed Ethernet-based solutions - by 2000 more than 30% networked desktops will be using Fast Ethernet (shared and switched).'' according to Mike McConnell, director of enterprise management and LAN programs at Infonetics Research, Inc. ''3Com addresses these requirements with a wide range of networking solutions that deliver Internet, remote access, workgroup and backbone connectivity.''
About 3Com
3Com Corporation enables individuals and organizations worldwide to stay more connected by communicating and sharing information and resources anytime, anywhere. As one of the world's preeminent suppliers of data, voice and video communications technology, 3Com has delivered networking solutions to more than 100 million customers worldwide. The company provides large enterprise, small and medium enterprise, carriers and network service providers, and consumers comprehensive, innovative information access products and system solutions for building intelligent, reliable and high performance local and wide area networks. For further information, visit 3Com's World Wide Web site at 3com.com or the press site at 3com.com.
3Com, SuperStack, OfficeConnect and EtherLink are registered trademark of 3Com Corporation and its subsidiaries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.
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