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3Com

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3Com Corporation
Company typePublic(1984[1]–2010)
Private(1979–1984)
Nasdaq:COMS[1]
IndustryComputer networkproducts
Founded1979;45 years ago(1979)[1]
FounderRobert Metcalfeand others[1]
DefunctApril 12, 2010(2010-04-12)
FateAcquired byHewlett-Packard
HeadquartersMarlborough,Massachusetts
ParentHewlett-Packard
Websitewww.3com

3Com Corporationwas an American digital electronics manufacturer best known for itscomputer networkproducts. The company was co-founded in 1979 byRobert Metcalfe,Howard Charney and others. Bill Krause joined as President in 1981. Metcalfe explained the name 3Com was a contraction of "Computer Communication Compatibility",[2]with its focus onEthernettechnology that he had co-invented, which enabled the networking of computers.

3Com providednetwork interface controllerandswitches,routers,wireless access pointsand controllers,IP voicesystems, andintrusion prevention systems.The company was based inSanta Clara, California.From its 2007 acquisition of 100 percent ownership of H3C Technologies Co., Limited (H3C) —initially a joint venture with China-basedHuawei Technologies—3Com achieved a market presence inChina,and a significant networking market share inEurope,Asia,and the Americas.[citation needed]3Com products were sold under the brands 3Com, H3C, and TippingPoint.

On April 12, 2010,Hewlett-Packardcompleted the acquisition of 3Com, and it no longer exists as a separate entity.[3]3Com's products, support, and technologies were eventually merged into HPE'sAruba Networksbusiness unit following HP's acquisition of Aruba in 2015 and subsequent split into HPE later that same year.

History[edit]

Xerox PARC (1972–1979)[edit]

After reading an article onALOHAnet,Robert Metcalfebecame interested in computer networking. ALOHAnet was an over-the-airwide area networksystem inHawaiiusingultra high frequencyradios and made several assumptions that Metcalfe thought would not be correct in practice. He developed his own theories of how to manage traffic, and began to consider an "ALOHAnet in a wire" networking system. In 1972, he joinedXerox PARCto develop these ideas, and after pairing up withDavid Boggs,the two had early 3 Mbit/s versions of Ethernet working in 1973. They then went on to build up a networking protocol known asPARC Universal Packet(PuP), with the entire system ready for build-out by late 1974.[4]

At this point, Xerox management did nothing with it, even after being approached by prospective customers. Increasingly upset by management's lack of interest, Metcalfe left Xerox in 1975, but he was lured back again the next year. Further development followed, resulting in the seminalXerox Network Systems(XNS) protocol, which was completed by 1978. Once again, Metcalfe found that management was unwilling to actually do anything with the product, and he threatened to leave and in 1979 he left the company.[4]

Founding and early days (1979–1996)[edit]

Metcalfe subsequently co-founded 3Com in 1979.[1]The other co-founders were Metcalfe's college friend Howard Charney and two others.[1]Bill Krause joined as President in 1981 and became CEO in 1982 and led 3Com until 1992 when he retired. 3Com began making Ethernet adapter cards for many early 1980s computer systems, including theDEC LSI-11,DEC VAX-11,Sun-2and theIBM PC.In the mid-1980s, 3Com branded their Ethernet technology as EtherSeries, while introducing a range of software andPC-based equipment to provide shared services over alocal area network(LAN) using XNS protocols. These protocols were branded EtherShare (for file sharing), EtherPrint (for printing), EtherMail (foremail), and Ether-3270(forIBMhost emulation). 3Com became a public company via aninitial public offering(IPO) in 1984.[5]

The company's network software products included:

  • 3+Sharefile and printer sharing.
  • 3+Mail e-mail.
  • 3+Route for routing XNS over a 3+ Server serial port towards a remote 3+ (Route) LAN.
  • 3+Remote/PC for routing XNS towards a Remote 3+ PC Workstation serial port.
  • 3+NetConnect to support flexible XNS routing between a number of connected 3+ Ethernets AND/OR Token Ring Networks.
  • 3+3270/SNA Gateway to enable standard 3+ MS-DOS workstations to emulate standard IBM 3270 Terminals, via the 3+ LAN and the connected SNA Gateway, towards a remote IBM-compatible mainframe system
  • MultiConnect (?) was a chassis-based multi-port10BASE2Ethernet repeater.
  • 3Server,a server-grade PC for running 3+ services.
  • 3Station,adiskless workstation.
  • 3+Open file and printer sharing (based onMicrosoft'sLAN Manager).
  • Etherterm terminal emulation.
  • Etherprobe LAN analysis software.
  • DynamicAccess software products for Ethernetload balancing,response time,andRMONII distributed monitoring.
3Com 3C509BC(Etherlink III) EthernetNICfrom mid-1990s with10BASE2,15-pinAUIand10BASE-Tconnectors

3Com's expansion beyond its original base of PC and thin Ethernet products began in 1987 when it merged with Bridge Communications. This provided a range of equipment based onMotorola68000 processors and using XNS protocols compatibly with 3Com's Etherterm PC software.

  • CS/1, CS/200 communication servers ( "terminal servers" )
  • Ethernet bridges and XNS routers
  • GS/1-X.25 X.25 gateway
  • CS/1-SNA SNA gateway
  • NCS/1 network control software running on aSun Microsystemscomputer

By 1995, 3Com's status was such that they were able to enter into an agreement with the city ofSan Franciscoto pay $900,000 per year for thenaming rightstoCandlestick Park.That agreement ended in 2002.

1997–2000[edit]

3Com Ethernet / modem PCMCIA card, inserted into aThinkPad 760

In 1997, 3Com merged withUSRobotics(USR), a maker of dial-up modems, and owner ofPalm, Inc.USRobotics was known for its Sportster line of consumer-oriented modems, as well as its Courier business-class modem line. This merger spelled the beginning of the end of 3Com. In addition to consumer network electronics, USRobotics was a well-known manufacturer of a dialup access server, the "Total Control Hub", rebadged by 3Com as the "Total Control 1000", based largely on its Courier modem technology. This key business product competed against Cisco's AS5200 access server line in the mid-1990s as the explosion of theInternetled to service provider investment in dialup access server equipment. 3Com continued the development of the Total Control line until it was eventually spun off as a part of Commworks, which was then acquired by UTStarcom.[6]

In August 1998,Bruce Claflinwas namedchief operating officer.The modem business was rapidly shrinking. 3Com attempted to enter theDSLbusiness, but was not successful.

In the lucrative servernetwork interface card(NIC) business, 3Com dominated market share, withIntelonly able to break past 3Com after dramatic price slashing. It started developingGigabit Ethernetcards in-house but later scrapped the plans. Later, it formed a joint venture withBroadcom,where Broadcom would develop the mainintegrated circuitcomponent and the NIC would be 3Com branded.

In 1999, 3Com acquired NBX, a Boston company with anEthernet-based phonesystem for small and medium-sized businesses. This product proved popular with 3Com's existing distribution channel and saw rapid growth and adoption. As one of the first companies to deliver a complete networked phone system, and increased its distribution channel with larger telephony partners such asSouthwestern BellandMetropark Communications,3Com helped makeVoIPinto a safe and practical technology with wide adoption.

3Com then tried to move into the smart consumer appliances business and in June 2000, 3Com acquired internet radio startupKerbangofor $80 million. It developed itsAudreyappliance, which made an appearance onThe Oprah Winfrey Show.It scrapped the Audrey and Kerbango products less than a year later.

In March 2000, in a highly public and criticized move, 3Com exited the high-end core routers and switch market to focus on other areas of the business.[7]The CoreBuilder Ethernet and ATM LAN switches, PathBuilder and NetBuilder WAN Routers were all discontinued June 2000. CoreBuilder products and the customer base was migrated over toExtreme Networks.The PathBuilder and NetBuilder were transitioned to Motorola. 3Com focused its efforts from 2000 to 2003 on building up the HomeConnect, OfficeConnect, SuperStack, NBX and Total Control product lines. Due to this perceived exit from the Enterprise market, 3Com would never gain momentum with large customers or carriers again.

In July 2000, 3Com spun offPalmas an independent company. Following Palm's IPO, 3Com continued to own 80percent of Palm, but 3Com'smarket capitalizationwas smaller than Palm's. U.S. Robotics was also spun out again as a separate company at this time.[citation needed]

2001 and beyond[edit]

In January 2001, Claflin becamechief executive officer,replacingÉric Benhamou,CEO from 1990 to 2000. He was criticized for the costly diversification in the mobile handheld computer market. At this point, the company's main line of business, selling addon network interface cards ( "NICs" ), was also shrinking rapidly, mainly because many new computers had NICs built in. The company started slashing or selling divisions and going through numerous rounds oflayoffs.The company went from employing more than 12,000 employees to fewer than 2,000.

In May 2003, the company moved itsSilicon ValleySanta Claraheadquarters toMarlborough, Massachusetts.It also formed a venture called H3C withHuawei,whereby 3Com would sell and rebrand products under the joint venture.[8]

In 2003, 3Com sold itsCommWorks Corporationsubsidiary toUTStarcom, Inc.CommWorks was based in Rolling Meadows,Illinois,and developed wirelinetelecommunicationsandwirelessinfrastructuretechnologies.[9]

In January 2006, Claflin announced he would be leaving the company. In January 2006, R Scott Murray became CEO of 3Com and chairman of H3C Technology in China, the joint venture with Huawei Technologies. Murray voluntarily resigned from the company in August 2006 over his concerns about the questionable business ethics of Huawei and potential cyber security risks posed by Huawei. Edgar Masri returned to 3Com to head as president and CEO following Murray's departure.

In September 2007, Bain Capital agreed to buy the company for $2.2 billion, with minority equity financing from Huawei Technologies. However, the deal met with U.S. government regulatory opposition and it fell through early in 2008, following concerns over Huawei's risk of conducting cyber security threats against the United States Government and its allies, Huawei's former dealings in Iran, and Huawei being operated by a former engineer[10]in China'sPeople's Liberation Army.[11][12]Edgar Masri left the company in April 2008, partially as a result of the failed Bain transaction.

In April 2008,Robert Maowas named chief executive, andRon Segepresident and chief operating officer.[13]

In fiscal year 2008 ended May 30, 2008, 3Com had annual revenue of $1.3 billion and more than 6,000 employees in over 40 countries. In September 2008, 3Com reported financial results for its fiscal 2009 first quarter, which ended August 29, 2008. Revenue in the quarter was $342.7 million compared to revenue of $319.4 million in the corresponding period in fiscal 2008, a 7 percent increase. Net income in the quarter was $79.8 million, compared with a net loss of $18.7 million in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008.[14]

The company reported that it had more than 2,700 engineers, with more than 1,400 United States patents and nearly 180 Chinese-issued patents, as well as more than 1050 pending Chinese applications. It also reported pending applications for 35 separate inventions outside of China covering a wide range of networking technologies.

Acquisition by HP[edit]

On November 11, 2009, 3Com and Hewlett-Packard announced that Hewlett-Packard would acquire 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash.[15]On April 12, 2010, Hewlett-Packard completed its acquisition.[3]When Hewlett-Packard split into Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Hewlett-Packard Inc., the 3Com unit continued with HPE and was ultimately integrated intoAruba Networksalong with the rest of HP's networking portfolio.

Products[edit]

Main article:List of 3Com products
3Com 3c905-TX 10/100PCInetwork interface controller

Acquisitions[edit]

3Com came close to merging with computer makerConvergent Technologies,abandoning the pact just two days before a vote was scheduled in March 1986.[16]Later, 3Com went on to acquire the following:

Former subsidiaries[edit]

CommWorks Corporation was a subsidiary of 3Com Corporation, based inRolling Meadows, Illinois.It was sold toUTStarcomofAlameda, Californiain 2003.

CommWorks was formerly the Carrier Network Business unit of 3Com, comprising several acquired companies: U.S. Robotics (Rolling Meadows, Illinois),[17]Call Technologies (Reston, Virginia),[18]and LANsource (Toronto,Ontario,Canada).[19]CommWorks was able to use technology from each company to create IP softswitch and IP communications software. U.S. Robotics provided media gateways (the Total Control 1000 product line, formerly used for dial-modem termination) and softswitch technology. Call Technologies provided Unified Messaging software. LANsource provided fax-over-IP software that was integrated with the Unified Messaging platform.

The Carrier Network Business unit of 3Com developed anInter-working functiontechnology that became the first and dominant 2G CDMA wireless data gateway product. In partnership with Unwired Planet (now Openwave) and Qualcomm Quicknet connect allowed for 6 second connect times versus modems connecting the call in approximately 30 seconds.[20]This product was deployed in the United States,Japan,[21]and Korea covering the 2G CDMA market sample carriers included Sprint.[22]It led to follow on products that became core to CommWorks now UTStarcom offerings including the 2.5 and 3G packet data gateway products known asPDSNand Home Agents.

CommWorks/3Com co-developed an H.323-based softswitch with AT&T in 1998 for use in a "transparent trunking" application for AT&T's residential long-distance customers.[23]Long distance telephone calls were redirected from the LEC's ingress CLASS 5 switch to the Total Control 1000 media gateway, where it was converted from TDM to IP and transported across AT&T's WorldNet IP backbone. When it reached the destination, it was passed to the egress LEC's CLASS 5 switch as an untariffed data call.

CommWorks modified the gateway and softswitch software to support SIP for MCI/WorldCom's hosted business offering in 2000.[24]

Although 3Com sold CommWorks to UTStarcom,[25]they retained intellectual property rights to the softswitch technology. After modifying the software to enable enterprise PBX features, 3Com released this technology as VCX, the industry's first pure SIP PBX, in 2003.[26]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^abcdefHedden, Heather Behn; Salamie, David E.; Meyer, Stephen (2010) [previous versions appeared in vol.11 and 34]. Jacques, Derek; Kepos, Paula (eds.). "3Com Corporation".International Directory of Company Histories.106.Farmington Hills, Michigan: St. James Press (Gale,Cengage Learninggroup): 465–466.ISBN978-1-55862-640-9.
  2. ^"Bob Metcalfe: Serial Innovator".The Henry Ford.
  3. ^ab"HP Completes Acquisition of 3Com Corporation, Accelerates Converged Infrastructure Strategy".News release.Hewlett-Packard. April 12, 2010.RetrievedAugust 27,2011.
  4. ^abPelkey 2007,6.7.
  5. ^Cuff, Daniel F. (March 22, 1984). "Business People; Chairman Watches As 3COM Goes Public".The New York Times.
  6. ^"3Com / USR/ UTStar Total Control Access Server".ISPTrader web site.Archived fromthe originalon 13 July 2011.RetrievedAugust 27,2011.
  7. ^Jim Duffy (March 20, 2000)."3Com exits enterprise network stage".Network World.Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2012.RetrievedSeptember 1,2011.
  8. ^"3Com to Move Out of Silicon Valley".Los Angeles Times.6 May 2003.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-03-14.Retrieved24 June2021.
  9. ^Hooper, Larry (2003-03-06)."Partners Praise 3Com Growth Plan".CRN.Retrieved2021-06-24.
  10. ^Sherisse Pham (2019)."Who is Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei?".CNN.Retrieved2019-05-20.
  11. ^Bray, Hiawatha (29 September 2007)."3Com goes private in Bain, Huawei deal".The Boston Globe.
  12. ^Deal to Buy 3Com Falls Apart - AboutArchivedFebruary 18, 2012, at theWayback Machine
  13. ^3Com Announces Senior Leadership Changes to Accelerate Global Business Plan
  14. ^"News Releases".Archived fromthe originalon 2015-09-04.Retrieved2008-10-27.
  15. ^"Press Release".Hewlett-Packard. Archived fromthe originalon 2011-03-13.
  16. ^Pollack, Andrew (27 March 1986)."CONVERGENT, 3COM FAIL IN MERGER PLAN".The New York Times.Retrieved17 May2021.
  17. ^"3Com acquires U.S. Robotics".news.cnet.
  18. ^3Com Corporation Acquires Leading Unified Messaging Vendor, Call Technologies; Company Accelerates Delivery of Carrier-Class, CommWorks Architecture. - Business WireArchivedMay 16, 2011, at theWayback Machine
  19. ^"3Com Completes Acquisition of LANSource Technologies, Inc — Company Business and Marketing".Edge: Work-Group Computing Report.1999. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-06-29.
  20. ^Qualcomm Press Center- 3COM Corporation, Qualcomm and Unwired Planet Announce Quick Network Connect Technology: Internet Access For CDMA Networks
  21. ^"Motorola Provides 64Kbps WAP Access On cdmaOne Networks".MobileTechNews.
  22. ^"3Com Supplies Critical Wireless Technology for New Sprint Wireless Web Service — Sprint's PCS Wireless Web service — Company Business and Marketing".Cambridge Telcom Report.1999. Archived fromthe originalon 2012-06-29.
  23. ^[1]ArchivedDecember 16, 2006, at theWayback Machine
  24. ^WorldCom."WorldCom Presents Plans for Commercial IP Communications Services".
  25. ^"UTStarcom Cops CommWorks - Light Reading".
  26. ^[2]ArchivedJuly 16, 2011, at theWayback Machine
Bibliography

External links[edit]

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