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 : 3Com Corporation (COMS) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dick Smith who wrote (24446)	11/13/1998 3:51:00 PM
From: Moonray	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 45548

3Com Sees PalmPilot Contributing 10% of Sales: Bloomberg Forum New York, Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- 3Com Corp. Chairman Eric Benhamou said sales of the company's PalmPilot hand-held computer soon will account for 10 percent of overall revenue at the No. 2 maker of computer-networking equipment. ''PalmPilot has become our fastest-growing line of business,'' Benhamou told the Bloomberg Forum. Sales have surged from just 5 percent of total revenue earlier this year. Previously, 3Com said it probably would pass the 10 percent mark sometime next year. The company has sold more than 1 million of the devices this year, and the Palm accounts for more than 70 percent of U.S. sales of hand-held computers. The devices, which let users store information like names, addresses and schedules electronically, sell for less than $400 and ''really open the door for a complete revolution in computing,'' Benhamou said. 3Com, whose main networking products link companies to corporate networks and the Internet, will be more specific about PalmPilot sales when it reports results for the fiscal second quarter ending Nov. 27, said Benhamou, who is also 3Com's chief executive. ''Breakthrough'' products linking PalmPilots to networks for remote access to data will be unveiled within a few months, he said. While Benhamou said the products might someday be connected to satellite-based phone networks, they're already linked to networks. Partnerships 3Com already has partnerships with No. 1 database software maker Oracle Corp., Symbol Technologies Inc., the largest maker of bar-code scanners, Germany's SAP AG, the biggest business-management software developer, and others. All enable collection of and access to data on the go using the PalmPilot. For the Santa Clara, California-based company, PalmPilot ''is not just a nice device that people have in their shirt pocket,'' but something that promotes access to information from corporate databases and the Internet, he said. Last year, the company acquired U.S. Robotics Corp., the biggest maker of analog-based telephone modems, for $8.5 billion. The PalmPilot line was part of that purchase. Benhamou, 43, an electrical engineer who's been 3Com CEO since 1990 and chairman since 1994, acknowledged that the company ''had gone through a rough period after assimilating U.S. Robotics,'' when it had problems with slow-selling products. Acquisitions 3Com expects to tap its $1.2 billion cash reserve for ''several'' strategic acquisitions ''over the next few months,'' Benhamou said. None will be as large as the U.S. Robotics takeover, he said. He wasn't more specific and didn't identify possible targets. 3Com now is ''broadly focused'' into all areas of data communication, while rival Cisco Systems Inc., the No. 1 computer- networking company, lacks that, he said. Rival hand-held computer makers such as Sharp Corp. also don't offer advanced network products. ''We have a very balanced business,'' extending as well into the personal- computer industry, where top makers like Dell Computer Corp. have designed its network-interface cards into its PCs. 3Com is the biggest vendor of these cards. The 3Com chairman declined to be specific about performance for the second quarter. 3Com is expected to earn 31 cents a share, the average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call Corp. 3Com reported in September that first-quarter profit before a gain fell 49 percent to $86.7 million, or 24 cents a share, from profit before a charge of $169.6 million, or 47 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue fell 12 percent to $1.4 billion. o~~~ O