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

To: joe who wrote (27163)	1/20/1999 9:41:00 PM
From: Moonray	Respond to of 45548

3Com sees 80 percent of business via e-commerce Reuters - 08:01 p.m Jan 20, 1999 Eastern NEW YORK (Reuters) - Electronic commerce should generate about 80 percent of Internet equipment supplier 3Com Corp.'s revenues in 1999, up sharply from 30 percent of revenue last year, 3Com President and COO Bruce Clavin said on Wednesday. Executives for 3Com estimated that the company's revenues would total about $6.5 billion in 1999. Clavin said 3Com can generate more of its sales through electronic networks because it will soon complete a two-year project to knit together its diverse computer operations using SAP software. ''I think it can help us grow our revenue,'' Clafin said of the project, set for completion in March, which will make it easier for customers to find and select 3Com's products. He said greater reliance on electronic commerce should also cut costs related to phone-based customer support, as more customers use the Internet to place orders, handle payments and track deliveries. He made the projection during the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's annual meeting with Wall Street analysts, at which executives set forth the company's key objectives in 1999. 3Com Chairman and CEO Eric Benhamou told a packed room of more than 100 Wall Street analysts and investors the company aimed to grow faster than the market and its core competitors. Financial analysts estimate the company's revenues will grow at better than 20 percent per year. By contrast, industry growth rate is between 14 and 16 percent. However, archrival Cisco continues to grow around 35 percent a year. Officials described 3Com's plans to unify the pieces of its diverse network businesses under the 3Com name. The company has built a stable of well-known brands, including Palm, the handheld electronic organizer; Megahertz, the personal computer modem; and Total Control, its corporate networking systems, among others. The company spends more than $800 million on all forms of marketing for its products, Clafin said. It has no plans to boost marketing spending, but plans to refocus brand-spending on fewer names. He said the company would focus its brand advertising on a handful of sub-brands connected to the flagship 3Com name, down from more than 10 at present. He declined to specify which brands would remain and which would simply become product names, without full brand status. A new television and print campaign shown to analysts promises to get customers ''more connected'' -- to 3Com. Clafin also discussed goals the company has set to motivate employees to exceed the Street's revenue expectations, make 3Com the No. 1 Networking brand, and substantially increase its market capitalization. However, he said 3Com had not developed the plans to achieve these goals yet and declined to specify any specific numbers associated with the goals. Copyright 1999 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication and 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. o~~~ O