3Com
Encyclopedia
3Com was a pioneering digital electronics manufacturer best known for its computer network
infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe
, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw. The name 3Com came from the company's focus on "Computers, Communication and Compatibility".
3Com provided network interface controllers and switches
, routers, wireless access point
s and controllers, IP voice systems, and intrusion prevention systems. The company was based in Massachusetts
, USA. From its 2007 acquisition of 100 percent ownership of H3C Technologies Co., Limited (H3C) —initially a joint venture with China-based Huawei
Technologies—3Com achieved a leading market presence in China, and a significant networking market share in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 3Com products were sold under the brands 3Com, H3C, and TippingPoint.
On April 12, 2010, Hewlett-Packard
completed the acquisition of 3Com.
Since the HP acquisition, 3Com has been fully absorbed by HP and no longer exists as a separate entity.
co-invented Ethernet
at Xerox PARC
, and subsequently co-founded 3Com in 1979. 3Com began making Ethernet adaptor cards for many early 1980s computer systems, including the LSI-11, IBM PC
, and VAX-11
. In the mid-1980s, 3Com branded their Ethernet technology as EtherSeries, while introducing a range of software and PC
-based equipment to provide shared services over a Local Area Network
(LAN) using Xerox Network Systems (XNS) protocols. These protocols were branded EtherShare (for file sharing), EtherPrint (for printing), EtherMail (for email), and Ether-3270
(for IBM host emulation).
The company's network software products included:
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 on Motorola
68000 processors and using XNS protocols compatibly with 3Com's Etherterm PC software.
, a maker of dial-up modems, and owner of Palm, Inc.
. U.S. Robotics was known for its Sportster line of consumer oriented modems, as well as its Courier business-class modem line. In addition to consumer network electronics, U.S. Robotics (USR) was a well-known manufacturer of a highly-regarded 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 the Internet
led 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 UTStar.
In August 1998, Bruce Claflin was named Chief Operations Officer
. The modem business was rapidly shrinking. 3Com attempted to enter the DSL
business, but was not successful.
In the lucrative server network interface card business, 3Com remained second in market share, after Intel. 3Com never managed to beat Intel with its own products or even with joint ventures with Broadcom
. It started developing Gigabit Ethernet
cards in-house but later scrapped the plans. Later, it formed a joint venture with Broadcom
, where Broadcom would develop the main ASIC
component and the NIC would be 3Com branded.
In 1999 3Com acquired NBX, a Boston company with an Ethernet-based phone system 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 as Southwestern Bell
and Metropark Communications
, 3Com helped make VoIP into a safe and practical technology with wide adoption.
3Com tried to move into the smart consumer appliances business and on June 2000, 3Com acquired internet radio startup Kerbango
for US$80 million. It developed its Audrey
appliance, which made an appearance on The 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. 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 to Extreme Networks. The PathBuilder and NetBuilder were transitioned to Motorola. 3Com focused it's efforts from 2000 to 2003 on building up the HomeConnect, OfficeConnect, SuperStack, NBS 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 off Palm
as an independent company. After the IPO
, 3Com still owned 80% of Palm but 3Com's market capitalization
was smaller than Palm's. U.S. Robotics was also spun out again as a separate company at this time.
In January 2001, Claflin became Chief Executive Officer
, replacing Eric 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 cash-cow, the network interface card business, was also shrinking rapidly, mainly because the functionality was integrated into the southbridge
of many motherboards. The company started slashing or selling divisions and going through numerous rounds of layoffs. The company went from employing more than 12,000 employees to fewer than 2,000.
In May 2003, the company moved its Silicon Valley
Santa Clara
headquarters to Marlborough, Massachusetts
. It also formed a venture called H3C with Huawei
whereby 3Com would sell and rebrand products under the joint venture.
In 2003, 3Com sold its CommWorks Corporation subsidiary to UTStarcom, Inc.
CommWorks was based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois
, and developed wireline telecommunications and wireless
infrastructure
technologies.
In January 2006, Claflin announced he would be leaving the company. In the summer, Edgar Masri returned to 3Com to head as President and CEO.
In May 2007, Citadel LLC purchased a 10% stake in 3Com and lobbied for a breakup or a sale of the company. As a result, 3Com announced a spin-off of TippingPoint at the end of June 2007. Shortly after Citadel's activist approach to 3Com, the company was approached by Bain Capital
to potentially acquire the company in conjunction with Huawei Technologies.
In May 2007, 3Com hired Jay Zager, Gerber Scientific
's chief financial officer
as executive vice president and CFO effective June 23, 2007.
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 US government regulatory opposition and the deal fell through early 2008, following concerns over Huawei's former dealings in Iran, and being operated by a former officer in China's People's Liberation Army
. Edgar Masri left the company in April 2008, partially as a result of the failed Bain transaction.
In April 2008, Robert Mao was named Chief Executive Officer, and Ron Sege made President and Chief Operating Officer.
The company reported it had more than 2,700 engineers, with more than 1,400 U.S. and nearly 180 Chinese issued patents, more than 1050 pending Chinese applications as well as pending applications for 35 separate inventions outside of China that cover a wide range of networking technologies.
On November 11, 2009, 3Com and Hewlett-Packard
announced that Hewlett-Packard will be acquiring 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash.
In March 2010, 3Com reported an increase in revenue of 6.5% to $345.9m.
On April 12, 2010, Hewlett-Packard
completed its acquisition of 3Com Corporation at a price of $7.90 per share in cash or an enterprise value
of approximately $2.7 billion.
, abandoning the pact just two days before a vote was scheduled in March 1986. Later, 3Com went on to acquire the following:
. It was sold to UTStarcom, Inc.
of Alameda
, California
in 2003.
CommWorks was formerly the Carrier Network Business unit of 3Com, comprising several acquired companies: U.S. Robotics (Rolling Meadows, Illinois
), Call Technologies (Reston, Virginia
), and LANsource (Toronto, Canada). 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 an IWF solution which became the first and dominant 2G CDMA wireless data gateway product. In partnership with Unwired Planet (now Openwave) and Qualcomm Quicknet connect was launched allowing for a breakthrough of 6 second connect times versus the standard solution which required modems to connect the call (approximately 30+ seconds). This product solution was deployed successfully throughout the United States, Japan, and Korea covering the 2G CDMA market sample carriers included Sprint. 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 as PDSN and 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. In this solution, 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.
Although 3Com sold CommWorks to UTStarcom, 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.
Computer network
A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of hardware components and computers interconnected by communication channels that allow sharing of resources and information....
infrastructure products. The company was co-founded in 1979 by Robert Metcalfe
Robert Metcalfe
Robert Melancton Metcalfe is an electrical engineer from the United States who co-invented Ethernet, founded 3Com and formulated Metcalfe's Law., he is a general partner of Polaris Venture Partners...
, Howard Charney, Bruce Borden, and Greg Shaw. The name 3Com came from the company's focus on "Computers, Communication and Compatibility".
3Com provided network interface controllers and switches
Network switch
A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects network segments.The term commonly refers to a multi-port network bridge that processes and routes data at the data link layer of the OSI model...
, routers, wireless access point
Wireless access point
In computer networking, a wireless access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards...
s and controllers, IP voice systems, and intrusion prevention systems. The company was based in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, USA. From its 2007 acquisition of 100 percent ownership of H3C Technologies Co., Limited (H3C) —initially a joint venture with China-based Huawei
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
Technologies—3Com achieved a leading market presence in China, and a significant networking market share in Europe, Asia, and the Americas. 3Com products were sold under the brands 3Com, H3C, and TippingPoint.
On April 12, 2010, Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
completed the acquisition of 3Com.
Since the HP acquisition, 3Com has been fully absorbed by HP and no longer exists as a separate entity.
Founding and early days
Robert MetcalfeRobert Metcalfe
Robert Melancton Metcalfe is an electrical engineer from the United States who co-invented Ethernet, founded 3Com and formulated Metcalfe's Law., he is a general partner of Polaris Venture Partners...
co-invented Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
at Xerox PARC
Xerox PARC
PARC , formerly Xerox PARC, is a research and co-development company in Palo Alto, California, with a distinguished reputation for its contributions to information technology and hardware systems....
, and subsequently co-founded 3Com in 1979. 3Com began making Ethernet adaptor cards for many early 1980s computer systems, including the LSI-11, IBM PC
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer, commonly known as the IBM PC, is the original version and progenitor of the IBM PC compatible hardware platform. It is IBM model number 5150, and was introduced on August 12, 1981...
, and VAX-11
VAX-11
The VAX-11 was a family of minicomputers developed and manufactured by Digital Equipment Corporation using processors implementing the VAX instruction set architecture . The VAX-11/780 was the first VAX computer.- VAX-11/780 :...
. In the mid-1980s, 3Com branded their Ethernet technology as EtherSeries, while introducing a range of software and PC
Personal computer
A personal computer is any general-purpose computer whose size, capabilities, and original sales price make it useful for individuals, and which is intended to be operated directly by an end-user with no intervening computer operator...
-based equipment to provide shared services over a Local Area Network
Local area network
A local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
(LAN) using Xerox Network Systems (XNS) protocols. These protocols were branded EtherShare (for file sharing), EtherPrint (for printing), EtherMail (for email), and Ether-3270
IBM 3270
The IBM 3270 is a class of block oriented terminals made by IBM since 1972 normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. As such, it was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text colour on the original models, these terminals are informally known as green screen terminals...
(for IBM host emulation).
The company's network software products included:
- 3+Share3+Share3+Share was a pioneering file and print sharing product from 3Com. Introduced in the early 1980s, 3+Share was competitive with Novell's NetWare in the open systems network server business throughout the 1980s....
file and printer sharing. - 3+Mail e-mail.
- 3+Remote for routing XNS over a PC serial port.
- NetConnect for routing XNS between Ethernets.
- (MultiConnect?) was a chassis-based multi-port 10Base2 Ethernet repeater.
- 3Server3ServerThe 3Com 3Server was a headless dedicated network attached storage machine designed to run 3Com LAN server software.The companion product was the diskless 3Station network workstation, a dedicated client machine. However, 3Servers could also network with standard PC-compatibles and were commonly...
, a server-grade PC for running 3+ services. - 3Station3StationThe 3Station was a diskless workstation, developed by Bob Metcalfe at 3Com and first available in 1986. The 3Station/2E had a 10 MHz 80286 processor, 1 megabyte of RAM , VGA-compatible graphics with 256kB of video RAM, and integrated AUI/BNC network transceivers for LAN access. The product used a...
, a diskless workstationDiskless workstationA diskless node is a workstation or personal computer without disk drives, which employs network booting to load its operating system from a server...
. - 3+Open file and printer sharing (based on Microsoft's LAN ManagerLAN ManagerLAN Manager was a Network Operating System available from multiple vendors and developed by Microsoft in cooperation with 3Com Corporation. It was designed to succeed 3Com's 3+Share network server software which ran atop a heavily modified version of MS-DOS.-Development history:LAN Manager was...
). - Etherterm terminal emulation.
- Etherprobe LAN analysis software.
- DynamicAccess software products for Ethernet load balancingLoad balancing (computing)Load balancing is a computer networking methodology to distribute workload across multiple computers or a computer cluster, network links, central processing units, disk drives, or other resources, to achieve optimal resource utilization, maximize throughput, minimize response time, and avoid...
, response time, and RMONRMONThe Remote Network MONitoring MIB was developed by the IETF to support monitoring and protocol analysis of LANs. The original version focused on OSI Layer 1 and Layer 2 information in Ethernet and Token Ring networks...
II distributed monitoring.
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 on Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009...
68000 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 a Sun MicrosystemsSun MicrosystemsSun Microsystems, Inc. was a company that sold :computers, computer components, :computer software, and :information technology services. Sun was founded on February 24, 1982...
computer
Since 1997
In 1997, 3Com merged with U.S. RoboticsU.S. Robotics
USRobotics Corporation is a company that makes computer modems and related products. It sold high-speed modems in the 1980s, and had a reputation for high quality and compatibility. With the reduced usage of voiceband modems in North America in the early 21st century, USR is now one of the few...
, a maker of dial-up modems, and owner of Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...
. U.S. Robotics was known for its Sportster line of consumer oriented modems, as well as its Courier business-class modem line. In addition to consumer network electronics, U.S. Robotics (USR) was a well-known manufacturer of a highly-regarded 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 the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
led 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 UTStar.
In August 1998, Bruce Claflin was named Chief Operations Officer
Chief operating officer
A Chief Operating Officer or Director of Operations can be one of the highest-ranking executives in an organization and comprises part of the "C-Suite"...
. The modem business was rapidly shrinking. 3Com attempted to enter the DSL
Digital Subscriber Line
Digital subscriber line is a family of technologies that provides digital data transmission over the wires of a local telephone network. DSL originally stood for digital subscriber loop. In telecommunications marketing, the term DSL is widely understood to mean Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line ,...
business, but was not successful.
In the lucrative server network interface card business, 3Com remained second in market share, after Intel. 3Com never managed to beat Intel with its own products or even with joint ventures with Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
. It started developing Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet
Gigabit Ethernet is a term describing various technologies for transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second , as defined by the IEEE 802.3-2008 standard. It came into use beginning in 1999, gradually supplanting Fast Ethernet in wired local networks where it performed...
cards in-house but later scrapped the plans. Later, it formed a joint venture with Broadcom
Broadcom
Broadcom Corporation is a fabless semiconductor company in the wireless and broadband communication business. The company is headquartered in Irvine, California, USA. Broadcom was founded by a professor-student pair Henry Samueli and Henry T. Nicholas III from the University of California, Los...
, where Broadcom would develop the main ASIC
Application-specific integrated circuit
An application-specific integrated circuit is an integrated circuit customized for a particular use, rather than intended for general-purpose use. For example, a chip designed solely to run a cell phone is an ASIC...
component and the NIC would be 3Com branded.
In 1999 3Com acquired NBX, a Boston company with an Ethernet-based phone system 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 as Southwestern Bell
Southwestern Bell
Southwestern Bell Telephone Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of AT&T. It does business as AT&T Southwest and other d/b/a names in its operating region.The company is currently headquartered in Dallas, Texas at One AT&T Plaza.-History:...
and Metropark Communications
Metropark Communications
Metropark Communications is the name of a telecommunications based corporation in the United States. Its popularity with small and medium enterprise started with consolidating multiple vendors into one communication package for subscribing companies...
, 3Com helped make VoIP into a safe and practical technology with wide adoption.
3Com tried to move into the smart consumer appliances business and on June 2000, 3Com acquired internet radio startup Kerbango
Kerbango
Kerbango was both a company acquired by 3Com and its lead product. Kerbango was founded in 1998 in Silicon Valley by former executives from Apple Computer and Power Computing Corporation. On June 27, 2000, 3Com announced it was acquiring the Kerbango company in an $80 million deal...
for US$80 million. It developed its Audrey
3Com Audrey
The 3Com Ergo Audrey is a discontinued internet appliance from 3Com. It was released to the public on October 17, 2000 for USD499 as the first device in the company's "Ergo" initiative to hit the market...
appliance, which made an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
. 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. 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 to Extreme Networks. The PathBuilder and NetBuilder were transitioned to Motorola. 3Com focused it's efforts from 2000 to 2003 on building up the HomeConnect, OfficeConnect, SuperStack, NBS 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 off Palm
Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc., was a smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, that was responsible for products such as the Pre and Pixi as well as the Treo and Centro smartphones. Previous product lines include the PalmPilot, Palm III, Palm V, Palm VII, Zire and Tungsten. While their older...
as an independent company. After the IPO
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
, 3Com still owned 80% of Palm but 3Com's market capitalization
Market capitalization
Market capitalization is a measurement of the value of the ownership interest that shareholders hold in a business enterprise. It is equal to the share price times the number of shares outstanding of a publicly traded company...
was smaller than Palm's. U.S. Robotics was also spun out again as a separate company at this time.
In January 2001, Claflin became Chief Executive Officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
, replacing Eric 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 cash-cow, the network interface card business, was also shrinking rapidly, mainly because the functionality was integrated into the southbridge
Southbridge (computing)
The southbridge is one of the two chips in the core logic chipset on a personal computer motherboard, the other being the northbridge. The southbridge typically implements the slower capabilities of the motherboard in a northbridge/southbridge chipset computer architecture. In Intel chipset...
of many motherboards. The company started slashing or selling divisions and going through numerous rounds of layoffs. The company went from employing more than 12,000 employees to fewer than 2,000.
In May 2003, the company moved its Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
Santa Clara
Santa Clara, California
Santa Clara , founded in 1777 and incorporated in 1852, is a city in Santa Clara County, in the U.S. state of California. The city is the site of the eighth of 21 California missions, Mission Santa Clara de Asís, and was named after the mission. The Mission and Mission Gardens are located on the...
headquarters to Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough, Massachusetts
Marlborough is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 38,499 at the 2010 census. Marlborough became a prosperous industrial town in the 19th century and made the transition to high technology industry in the late 20th century after the construction of the...
. It also formed a venture called H3C with Huawei
Huawei
Huawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
whereby 3Com would sell and rebrand products under the joint venture.
In 2003, 3Com sold its CommWorks Corporation subsidiary to UTStarcom, Inc.
UTStarcom
UTStarcom is a Fortune 1000 company that specializes in IP-based networking products for telecommunications companies and service providers. Its core markets are multimedia communications and broadband, including IP and entertainment , next generation broadband networks and optical network solutions...
CommWorks was based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
, and developed wireline telecommunications and wireless
Wireless
Wireless telecommunications is the transfer of information between two or more points that are not physically connected. Distances can be short, such as a few meters for television remote control, or as far as thousands or even millions of kilometers for deep-space radio communications...
infrastructure
Infrastructure
Infrastructure is basic physical and organizational structures needed for the operation of a society or enterprise, or the services and facilities necessary for an economy to function...
technologies.
In January 2006, Claflin announced he would be leaving the company. In the summer, Edgar Masri returned to 3Com to head as President and CEO.
In May 2007, Citadel LLC purchased a 10% stake in 3Com and lobbied for a breakup or a sale of the company. As a result, 3Com announced a spin-off of TippingPoint at the end of June 2007. Shortly after Citadel's activist approach to 3Com, the company was approached by Bain Capital
Bain Capital
Bain Capital LLC is a Boston-based private equity firm founded in 1984 by partners from the consulting firm Bain & Company. Originally conceived as an early-stage, growth-oriented investment fund, Bain Capital today manages approximately $65 billion in assets, and its strategies include private...
to potentially acquire the company in conjunction with Huawei Technologies.
In May 2007, 3Com hired Jay Zager, Gerber Scientific
Gerber Scientific
Gerber Scientific Inc. , located in Tolland, Connecticut, is the parent of companies which provide end-to-end customer solutions to the world's sign making and specialty graphics, ophthalmic lens processing, and apparel and flexible materials industries. They also supply purpose-built software to...
's chief financial officer
Chief financial officer
The chief financial officer or Chief financial and operating officer is a corporate officer primarily responsible for managing the financial risks of the corporation. This officer is also responsible for financial planning and record-keeping, as well as financial reporting to higher management...
as executive vice president and CFO effective June 23, 2007.
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 US government regulatory opposition and the deal fell through early 2008, following concerns over Huawei's former dealings in Iran, and being operated by a former officer in China's People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
. Edgar Masri left the company in April 2008, partially as a result of the failed Bain transaction.
In April 2008, Robert Mao was named Chief Executive Officer, and Ron Sege made President and Chief Operating Officer.
Acquired by HP
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, or $0.20 per diluted share, compared with a net loss of $18.7 million, or $0.05 per share, in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008.The company reported it had more than 2,700 engineers, with more than 1,400 U.S. and nearly 180 Chinese issued patents, more than 1050 pending Chinese applications as well as pending applications for 35 separate inventions outside of China that cover a wide range of networking technologies.
On November 11, 2009, 3Com and Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
announced that Hewlett-Packard will be acquiring 3Com for $2.7 billion in cash.
In March 2010, 3Com reported an increase in revenue of 6.5% to $345.9m.
On April 12, 2010, Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard
Hewlett-Packard Company or HP is an American multinational information technology corporation headquartered in Palo Alto, California, USA that provides products, technologies, softwares, solutions and services to consumers, small- and medium-sized businesses and large enterprises, including...
completed its acquisition of 3Com Corporation at a price of $7.90 per share in cash or an enterprise value
Enterprise value
Enterprise value , Total enterprise value , or Firm value is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a whole business. It is a sum of claims of all the security-holders: debtholders, preferred shareholders, minority shareholders, common equity holders, and others...
of approximately $2.7 billion.
Products
- Fixed configuration Ethernet switches including stackable switchStackable switchA stackable switch is a network switch that is fully functional operating standalone but which can also be set up to operate together with one or more other network switches, with this group of switches showing the characteristics of a single switch but having the port capacity of the sum of the...
es: 3Com brand Gigabit switches Switch 5500G, 4800G, 4500G, 4200G, Baseline, OfficeConnect; 3Com brand Fast Ethernet switches Switch 5500, 4500, 4210, Baseline, OfficeConnect; H3C brand switches S5600, S5500, S5100, S3600, S3610, S3100. - Modular Chassis switches: 3Com brand 8800, 7900E, 7500. H3C brand S9500, S7500, S7500E.
- Wide area networkWide area networkA wide area network is a telecommunication network that covers a broad area . Business and government entities utilize WANs to relay data among employees, clients, buyers, and suppliers from various geographical locations...
routers - Wireless access pointWireless access pointIn computer networking, a wireless access point is a device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or related standards...
s, adapters, and connectivity products - Internet accessInternet accessMany technologies and service plans for Internet access allow customers to connect to the Internet.Consumer use first became popular through dial-up connections in the 20th century....
gateways and firewalls, both wired and wireless - Network managementNetwork managementNetwork management refers to the activities, methods, procedures, and tools that pertain to the operation, administration, maintenance, and provisioning of networked systems....
applications - Network securityComputer securityComputer security is a branch of computer technology known as information security as applied to computers and networks. The objective of computer security includes protection of information and property from theft, corruption, or natural disaster, while allowing the information and property to...
platforms including the TippingPoint Intrusion Prevention System. - IP Telephony applications including PBX and CTIComputer telephony integrationComputer telephony integration, also called computer–telephone integration or CTI, is a common name for any technology that allows interactions on a telephone and a computer to be integrated or coordinated...
solutions. 3Com's TelecommunicationTelecommunicationTelecommunication is the transmission of information over significant distances to communicate. In earlier times, telecommunications involved the use of visual signals, such as beacons, smoke signals, semaphore telegraphs, signal flags, and optical heliographs, or audio messages via coded...
s solutions utilize VoIP and Session Initiation ProtocolSession Initiation ProtocolThe Session Initiation Protocol is an IETF-defined signaling protocol widely used for controlling communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . The protocol can be used for creating, modifying and terminating two-party or multiparty sessions...
(SIP). Voice platforms include VCX and NBX. - Local area networkLocal area networkA local area network is a computer network that interconnects computers in a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building...
interface cards - IP Video Surveillance and Network Storage (marketed in China, South Africa, South America and other key markets)
Acquisitions
3Com came close to being acquired by Unix workstation company, Convergent TechnologiesConvergent Technologies (Unisys)
Convergent Technologies was an American computer company formed by a small group of people who left Intel Corporation and Xerox PARC in 1979....
, abandoning the pact just two days before a vote was scheduled in March 1986. Later, 3Com went on to acquire the following:
- Bridge CommunicationsBridge CommunicationsBridge Communications, Inc. was founded by Judy Estrin and Bill Carrico in 1981 and was based in Mountain View, California. Bridge Communications made computer network bridges, routers, and communications servers...
in 1987 - BICC Data Networks in 1992
- Star-Tek in 1993
- Synernetics in 1993
- Centrum in 1994
- NiceCom in 1994
- AccessWorks, Sonix Communications, Primary Access, and ChipcomChipcomChipcom was a company, early pioneering in the Ethernet hub industry. Their products allowed Local Networks to be aggregated in a single place instead of being distributed across the length of a single coaxial cable...
in 1995 - Axon and OnStream NetworksOnStream NetworksOnStream Networks was a Santa Clara, California-based supplier of Circuit Emulation Service based Asynchronous Transfer Mode solutions. It was formerly T3Plus....
in 1996 - USRobotics merger/acquisition in 1997 (included product lines: Sportster, Courier, Palm, Megahertz, Conferencelink, Audrey, and more)
- NBX in 1999
- KerbangoKerbangoKerbango was both a company acquired by 3Com and its lead product. Kerbango was founded in 1998 in Silicon Valley by former executives from Apple Computer and Power Computing Corporation. On June 27, 2000, 3Com announced it was acquiring the Kerbango company in an $80 million deal...
in 2000 - TippingPointTippingpointTippingPoint was an American software company with roots back to 1999 focused on network security products, particularly intrusion prevention systems for networks. TippingPoint was acquired by 3Com Corporation in 2005, and was run as an autonomous security-focused division from 2005 to 2010. On...
in 2005 - Huawei-3Com (H3C) in 2007 (Bought out HuaweiHuaweiHuawei is a Chinese multinational networking and telecommunications equipment and services company headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China...
's 49% stake for US$882 million from a 2003 joint venture)
Former subsidiaries
CommWorks Corporation was a subsidiary of 3Com Corporation, based in Rolling Meadows, IllinoisIllinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. It was sold to UTStarcom, Inc.
UTStarcom
UTStarcom is a Fortune 1000 company that specializes in IP-based networking products for telecommunications companies and service providers. Its core markets are multimedia communications and broadband, including IP and entertainment , next generation broadband networks and optical network solutions...
of Alameda
Alameda, California
Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
in 2003.
CommWorks was formerly the Carrier Network Business unit of 3Com, comprising several acquired companies: U.S. Robotics (Rolling Meadows, Illinois
Rolling Meadows, Illinois
Rolling Meadows is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 24,607 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Rolling Meadows is located at ....
), Call Technologies (Reston, Virginia
Reston, Virginia
Reston is a census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States, within the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The population was 58,404, at the 2010 Census and 56,407 at the 2000 census...
), and LANsource (Toronto, Canada). 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 an IWF solution which became the first and dominant 2G CDMA wireless data gateway product. In partnership with Unwired Planet (now Openwave) and Qualcomm Quicknet connect was launched allowing for a breakthrough of 6 second connect times versus the standard solution which required modems to connect the call (approximately 30+ seconds). This product solution was deployed successfully throughout the United States, Japan, and Korea covering the 2G CDMA market sample carriers included Sprint. 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 as PDSN and 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. In this solution, 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.
Although 3Com sold CommWorks to UTStarcom, 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.