3Com dramatically increases market share position in Gigabit Ethernet over Copper

Market research firm Cahners In-Stat, Phoenix, Arizona, reports that 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq: COMS) has increased its leadership position in the Gigabit Ethernet over Copper switch market by almost 8% for the first quarter calendar year 2001.

3Com now holds 35.7% market share, approximately 10% higher than the second-place vendor and significantly ahead of all the other competitors, according to the figures in the report. 3Com has shown consistent growth in this market over the last three quarters.

"3Com`s leadership position in this key area of LAN infrastructure - once again validated by independent market research - illustrates 3Com`s continued commitment to investing in high-performance, easy-to-use and affordable LAN switching solutions for businesses," said Karen Oddey, vice president, marketing and business strategy, 3Com`s Business Networks Company.

"To add higher performance to a business network, customers would typically have to invest in fibre cabling and an expensive Gigabit Ethernet switch. However, 3Com offers a highly affordable and low-hassle way for customers to add higher performance by allowing them to easily install a low-cost copper Gigabit Ethernet Switch into their existing network infrastructure."

Available worldwide, 3Com`s Gigabit Ethernet networks are easy to own, install and manage, rich in functionality and high performance. The outstanding success of 3Com`s SuperStack 3 Switch 4900 Gigabit Ethernet family and SuperStack 3 Baseline 10/100/1000 family contributed to the leadership position in the Gigabit Ethernet market segment. Gigabit Ethernet over copper wiring has proven to be simpler and less expensive than Gigabit Ethernet over fibre wiring.

The success of the recently released 3Com 10/100/1000 PCI-X Server NIC has also played a noteworthy role in increasing the market demand for Gigabit Ethernet over copper solutions, as well as the overall awareness of the technology.