Any other thoughts out there?
NZ ---
The Hambrecht & Quist report, "Mergers and Acquisitions in the Networking Industry," divides the industry into four markets:
Market 1 --- Workgroup (to the desktop)
Techologies: Shared-medium LANs (Ethernet, Token Ring), LAN switching, Fast Ethernet, ATM.
Product characteristics: High throughput, Low product cost.
Competitors:
BAY, CS, CSCO, COMS, FORE, INTC, MADGF, XYLN.
Market 2 --- Part one: Enterprise Backbone (LAN side)
Technologies: LAN Switching (in some applications), Fast Ethernet, FDDI, ATM, Gigabit Ethernet.
Product characteristics: High reliability, High throughput, Mix of interfaces, Security.
Competitors:
BAY, CS, CSCO, FORE, MADGF, SHVA, USRX /COMS, XYLN.
Part two: Enterprise Backbone (WAN side)
Technologies: ISDN, Frame Relay, T1/E1, T3/E3, ATM.
Product characteristics: Bandwidth savings, Bandwidth flexibility, Security.
Competitors:
BAY, CS, CSCO, FORE, MADGF, SHVA, USRX/COMS, XYLN.
Market 3 --- Edge of the Central Office (the user side of the CO)
Technologies: ISDN, Frame Relay, T1/E1, T3/E3, ATM
Product characteristics: Bandwidth savings, Bandwidth flexibility, Security.
Competitors:
ASND/CSCC, CSCO/STRM, FORE, NN, NT, USRX/COMS.
Market 4 -- Central Office
Technologies: T3, SONET, ATM.
Product characteristics: High-speed interfaces, Billing applications, NEBS compliance, High reliability.
Competitors:
ALA, ERICY, FJTSY, LU, NT, Siemens.
I highlighted COMS, NN, and Siemens because they have alliances already. It appears to me NN would have to ditch COMS if they aligned with CS and I can't imagine that happening. Not unless there's something going on with COMS I don't know about. Certainly possible.
Considering CS has a market cap of $2B and COMS's is 5X that, it sort of makes you wonder why anyone wouldn't look at CS. Believe me, I've not heard a word. Not a thing. So I'm not giving credence to the rumor in the least. Just making an idle observation.
Pat |
