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To: djane who wrote (54185)	9/15/1998 6:12:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

Cisco says it will expand Asian workforce [Hope ASND is doing the same thing.] sjmercury.com Posted at 2:30 a.m. PDT Tuesday, September 15, 1998 Reuters KUALA LUMPUR -- U.S. data networking supplier Cisco Systems Inc said on Tuesday it planned to expand its Asian workforce by 20 percent in the next 12 to 15 months despite the region's economic crisis. The company, the world's largest network equipment vendor, raised its Asian headcount by over 150 percent in the last 18 months, said Cisco president and chief executive John Chambers. ''We would be here for the long run,'' he told Reuters. Chambers was visiting Malaysia as part of an Asian tour that also takes in Singapore, Hong Kong and China. He was due to meet Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad later on Tuesday. ''This year we plan an increase,'' he said. ''Everyone else was shrinking. We moved the other way and we would probably grow by another 20 percent over the next 12 to 15 months -- that's regardless of the economy.'' Cisco had 425 staff in Asia in July, up from 175 at end-1997. For the quarter ended July 25, Cisco said Asia's sales contribution to the company fell to between seven and eight percent from about 17 percent 15 to 18 months ago. Its worldwide sales in that quarter rose 35 percent to US$2.39 billion. Chambers said Japan now accounted for just four percent of the company's sales, down sharply from 11 percent. He said that except for Japan and South Korea, the company's Asian business was growing. Business in China registered the most dramatic growth at 70 percent, he added. ''So even during tough economic times, we have done pretty well. We are synonymous with the Internet,'' he said. ''This is in an area that, even in tough times, both companies, service providers and telcos are going to spend money. The question is how much,'' he said. Chambers said Asia's economic recovery could be slow. ''My view is some countries will be in for a long downturn, probably in excess of four to five years. Other countries will perhaps be in a downturn that will last for one or two years,'' he said. On Malaysia's new currency controls, Chambers said he hoped they would be temporary. ''Capital controls, I and others believe that it should be a temporary issue,'' he said. Malaysia recently clamped controls on foreign exchange in a move aimed at sheltering the local currency.

To: djane who wrote (54185)	9/15/1998 6:25:00 PM
From: djane	Respond to of 61433

Nortel hit by investors after job cut news {see bottom) canoe1.canoe.ca Tuesday, September 15, 1998 TORONTO, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Northern Telecom Ltd. shares fell in hectic trade on Tuesday as investors took a dim view of a decision by the world's sixth-largest telecommunications company to chop 4 percent of its global workforce. Brampton, Ontario-based Nortel also said it will take an unspecified provision in the third quarter to cover the cost of the reductions, which will hit all of its divisions as the company shifts its focus toward Internet products. "We're going to take a provision in accordance with Canadian GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles)," said Nortel spokesman Peter Janecek. This will be offset somewhat by a gain on the sale of Entrust Technologies Inc., the electronic communications security firm specializing in encryption technology, which was spun off by Nortel in August. There may also be a gain in the quarter on the $325 million sale of Advanced Power Systems to London-based Astec Plc , signed last month, but this depends on when the transaction closes, Janacek said. Nortel shares closed down C$4.45 at C$65.30 on the Toronto Stock Exchange after dropping to a low of C$64 earlier. Volume topped five million shares. In New York, the stock was down 2-1/2 at 43-3/4, up from a low of 42-3/4, in trade of 4.4 million shares. Rick Hutcheon, president and chief investment officer of CentrePost Mutual Funds, said he was disappointed by the investor reaction to the news. Roughly 7 percent of CentrePost's equity fund is in Nortel stock. "I would not have thought it would be taken quite so badly as it has been," Hutcheon said. He added that investors may still be unhappy about Nortel's acquisition of Internet technology firm Bay Networks for $9 billion earlier this year. "I think (the stock is) going to continue to creep down a little bit. People don't like it when you are talking about Bay and how great it is one minute...and the next you're laying off 4 percent of your workforce," said Kearns Capital analyst Robert MacLellan. "It isn't the right message." The job cuts decision, leaked to a Canadian newspaper and confirmed by the company on Monday, may indicate a lack of confidence in growth prospects, MacLellan said. "We are starting to hear around the campfire that maybe central-office switching sales are going to be slower than people had thought," he said. He noted central-office switching is growing at an annual rate of between 3 and 4 percent while Nortel has been producing growth in this segment of around 8 percent in recent quarters. Central-office switches, once Nortel's bread-and-butter business, are the switches that telephone carriers use to route voice traffic. "Now what I think we hear is their rate's going to come down to something resembling industry levels," MacLellan said. Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. BREAKING NEWS MARKET WATCH BIZ TICKERS MUTUAL FUNDS MONEY RATES BIZ SEARCH Bank mergers OK, with conditions CIBC shuts emerging mkts biz in NY Nortel hit by investors Shaw Communications splits into two CANOE home \| We welcome your feedback. Copyright c 1998, Canoe Limited Partnership. All rights reserved. Please click here for full copyright terms and restrictions.

To: djane who wrote (54185)	9/15/1998 6:36:00 PM
From: djane	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 61433

In-Stat In-Sights. Worldwide Router Market Robust [ASND reference at bottom] (via NT thread) From the September 7, 1998 Issue of Electronic News By Jeremy Duke, Director, Networking Group, Cahners In-Stat Group For the last two years, the total router market has been experiencing somewhat flat revenues quarter to quarter, teetering at about $1.5 billion each quarter. However, the total worldwide router market in 2Q98 grew a strong 10 percent over 1Q98, growing to the largest quarter ever for the router market measuring $1.7 billion. The strong initial market acceptance of Layer 3 Switch Routers is a significant component to this large growth in 2Q98. If we were to strip out this new router category in the 2Q98 router market, the growth rate would be much more modest at 4 percent. Nevertheless, 4 percent growth without this is impressive for a communications technology that is moving into its 2nd decade. Growth opportunities for the traditional router segments include new applications such as voice-over IP and virtual private networks providing newfound growth for branch office routers and mid-range routers. Continued advances in high end routing, addressing the phenomenal growth of the Internet and providing advanced service features (i.e. QOS) for private and service provider continues to spur high ticket purchases on high end routers. Enterprise LY3 Switch Routers were off to a strong start for the first six months of 1998. Total sales for the 1H98 were $317 million. And given that not all Enterprise LY3 Switch Routers were brought to market in 1H98, we expect the year to be an outstanding one. Cahners In-Stat Group anticipates the Enterprise LY3 Switch Router market to grow to representing 12.5 percent of the total router market. In 2Q98, Bay Networks maintained the number one spot with a 43.1 percent market share for Enterprise LY3 Switch Router sales. Cahners In-Stat Group does not anticipate the Carrier Class SONET Router market to add significant growth in 1998, given that many of these routers will not be shipping until the later half of the year. It is Cahners In-Stat Group's expectation that this router category will represent less than 10 percent of the high-end router market in 1998. We further anticipate stronger growth in 1999 as: * large private networks and service provider networks migrate from circuit-switched networks to packet-based networks; * and the Internet continues its phenomenal growth Across the traditional router segments, Cisco maintains the number one position with a 55 percent share of Worldwide Routers Shipped, and a 66 percent share of Worldwide Router Revenue. In a distant second and third place, Bay Networks and 3Com have market shares of 15.3 percent and 4.5 percent, respectively. Bay Networks grew its market share in revenue by four market share points, primarily at the expense of Cisco. This was driven by the success of Bay's Layer 3 Switch Router. Bay has strong prospects to continue its market share gains if it can continue the sales momentum of the Layer 3 Switch Router as well as deliver on a next generation carrier class high end router. With Bay's extensive routing history and the deep pockets and worldwide reach of Nortel, Bay like no other internetworking company, could pose a threat to Cisco's iron clad grasp of the high end router market. The largest component of unit shipments in the router market continues to be the low-end router segment that is comprised of branch office and SOHO routers. In 1997, 90.9 percent of all router shipments were low-end routers. In 1Q98, the market share rankings for low-end router sales included Cisco, Bay, 3Com, IBM, and Ascend with respective market shares of 62 percent, 11.5 percent, 5.1 percent, and 5.0 percent.