You probably saw the headlines about 3Com being bought by a partnership of a private investment firm and the company doing most of their manufacturing in China. Will they remain focused on small and medium business networking tools? Probably, says this article recommending 3Com customers stand pat for now.
A few years ago, 3Com was the conduit for the giant Chinese manufacturer Huawei to break into the enterprise networking space (think Cisco). That didn't work too well, causing some gnashing of teeth among customers who bought into the product line. 3Com retreated back to their safety zone of small and medium business, and they focused on Voice over the Network telephone products and others.
This new deal takes 3Com private and should, at least for the next two years, stabilize the company. Product lines that do well should be expanded, those that don't will likely be cut since no shareholders have to be protected. New products that haven't established themselves in the market may disappear.
So 3Com remains the friend of small and medium business for now. Perhaps the new owners will help raise 3Com's profile a bit, because they don't get mentioned early in network product conversations. If nothing else, this news burst may help remind folks about 3Com.
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