Intel eyes small-business market
In an effort to expand its reach into the networking market for small businesses, Intel announces it will acquire Dayna Communications.
Terms of the cash deal were not disclosed.
The deal is expected to close by late November, and Dayna will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Intel's network products division. Dayna makes networking adapters, switches, hubs, and Internet connectivity products--such as 100 mbps Fast Ethernet products--for small businesses.
"We've been in networking since 1991?and as we have grown, we have targeted the mid-sized business segment," said Jim A. Johnson, Intel business unit manager. "But we are realizing that small business is a fast-growing segment and that people will eventually have PCs connected everywhere."
Johnson added that the acquisition offers a quick ramp up into the small-business area, propelled by the experience Dayna's workforce has had in networking solutions for small businesses. The networking building blocks Dayna already has in place--like its Fast Ethernet technology, which can be used to link PCs to the Internet--is also an advantage for Intel.
Although the majority of Intel's networking business falls into the mid-size business range, Johnson had no estimates on the portion of Intel business that the small-business market could comprise in the near future. He did say, however, that the company is receiving an increasing number of requests for products that serve the mid-size business market.
Meanwhile, Brad Romney, Dayna president and chief executive, said his 13-year-old company began looking six months ago to forge an alliance with a recognized and reputable company.
"Over the last year and a half, we have focused on small-business customer solutions?and thought the best opportunity would be to ally ourselves with a company that had strength and a brand name," Romney said.
(Intel is an investor in CNET: The Computer Network.)
Romney will now become a unit manager in Intel's networking division.
Dayna's current product line will continue to be sold under its existing brand. But Intel plans to launch new products for small businesses in the first half of 1998 under the Intel brand.
These new products will increase the volume and range of existing Intel products, services, and support delivered through value-added resellers to small businesses. Romney declined to elaborate on these new products.