3Com vaults to #1 in China for enterprise switches, routers

MARLBOROUGH: 3Com Corporation has announced it has vaulted to the #1 market share position for enterprise stackable switch ports and router units in the rapidly growing Chinese market, according to leading IT market research and advisory firm IDC. Driven in part by the company's unique ability to offer customers increased flexibility investment protection for their networking equipment purchases through its OSN/OAA architecture, 3Com continues to be the clear #2 vendor worldwide in total Ethernet switching port shipments, enterprise router units, and small- and medium-business (SMB) switching, in the latest market share reports.

In just 4 years H3C, which began as a joint venture between Huawei Technologies and 3Com in 2003, has become a market force in China. 3Com became sole owner of H3C in 2007.

In China, according to the IDC Asia/Pacific Quarterly Switch & Router Tracker, Q4 2007, Mar 2008), H3C is:

• #1 in stackable (fixed port) switching ports;
• #1 in mid-range router shipments and revenue for the third consecutive quarter;
• #1 in Layer 2 unmanaged (fixed port) switching revenue share for the second consecutive quarter; and

Worldwide, 3Com is:

• #2 in total Ethernet switching port shipments for the fourth consecutive quarter (Dell’Oro Group, Q4 2007);
• #2 in enterprise router shipments for the third consecutive quarter (Infonetics, Q4 2007); and
• #2 in switching port shipments and revenue for SMBs, and growing faster than the overall market (Infonetics, Q4 2007).

“These independent analyst reports clearly demonstrate that 3Com’s commitment to developing a complete portfolio of high-quality, low-cost switches and routers is rapidly winning support from customers around the world,” said Edgar Masri, president and CEO of 3Com. “In the highly competitive network infrastructure market, it is essential that vendors clearly differentiate their offerings. Not only does 3Com have a significant price-performance advantage, but our growing portfolio of OSN- and OAA-enabled products stands out from the crowd.”