Netscape plans reorg, more focus on Web site

Netscape Communications Corp. announced a reorganization today, including a new division for its World Wide Web-site business, which in recent months has been the struggling company's focus.

Mike Homer was named executive vice president and general manager of the new division and will report to company President and CEO Jim Barksdale, Netscape said in a statement. Homer has been the company's executive vice president of sales and marketing.

Netscape increasingly has shifted its hopes for a turnaround to Netcenter, its online site. The company will expand the content and features of the site, according to the statement, and is expected to make a push at competing directly with Yahoo Inc., America Online Inc., Excite Inc. and Start, an upcoming site from Microsoft Corp. Microsoft in the past year has put a serious dent in Netscape's share of the Internet browser market.

However, Netscape also might form partnerships with some of those competitors and has been talking to Yahoo and AOL, among others, about the Netscape Web site configuration, according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal.

The Netcenter site will be boosted through content creator and commerce site partnerships, Homer said in the statement today. According to the Journal, Netscape also might acquire companies that offer Web features. Netscape itself has been widely viewed as up for sale.

Netcenter was launched just over six months ago and has 3.8 million members. Homer said in the statement that the new division is a "signal that we are accelerating our efforts to become the leading destination for people who use the Net to manage aspects of their personal and professional lives." The company also plans to leverage its installed base of 68 million software users to push Netcenter, he said.

Netscape releases source code
Network World Fusion, 2/24/98.

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