Also known as Asante Technologies, Inc. Asante produced a number of networking related products for the Macintosh.

Asanté Technologies is a leading provider of high-performance intra-networking solutions for graphics and image-intensive applications. The company offers high-speed networking products - including LAN switches, hubs, bridges and network adapter cards - to meet the bandwidth demands of customers in two primary target markets: publishing/prepress and education (including K-12 and higher-ed).

Designed with creative professionals and educators in mind - Asanté products provide a unique mix of power, performance and ease-of-use. Backed by extended warranties and free technical support, the Asanté product offers premium features at practical prices, and makes managing a network intuitive and easy.

Products are available worldwide through Asanté's network of distributors in 36 countries, as well as value added resellers, system integrators and computer retail stores. Asanté also employs a direct sales force to develop this channel and to assist Asanté partners in identifying and solving customer needs. In addition, specially designed versions of Asanté products are available to OEM customers, a relatively new business representing a growing portion of Asanté's sales.

Considered one of the fastest growing LAN companies in the industry, Asanté increased net revenues from $94,000 in fiscal year 1989 to $67 million in fiscal year 1996. Following a loss in 1995 due to increased competition and reduced market share, the company is back on track with a 12 percent gain at year-end 1996 and strong growth in sales of 43 percent in the second quarter of 1997.

Demand for high-speed networking is growing rapidly - fueled both by the expansion of Internet/Intranet communications in corporate and campus installations (US sales of networking products into education is expected to reach nearly $400 million this year, according to T.H.E. Journal) as well as increased stress on traditional workflows in bandwidth-intensive installations, such as graphics, publishing and prepress. This is occurring as files get larger and larger and users vie for access to servers, printers, RIPs and other important resources affecting their productivity and ability to meet deadlines.

Asanté expects the market for high-speed networking in the graphics industry to reach $1 billion by the year 2000.

Positioning the company to play a major role in the growing prepress and education markets, Asanté has successfully transitioned from its initial start with Ethernet adapters to enter the larger LAN connectivity and network systems markets - now offering high-speed switching and software solutions that boost the performance in Ethernet, Fast Ethernet and eventually Gigabit Ethernet networks.

Switching today represents about 17 percent of the $21 billion worldwide LAN market, according to International Data Corporation, and is expected to nearly triple in size to provide $11 billion in shipments by the year 2000.

Asanté is a strong player in the switch market. Its engineering team consistently delivers solid competitive offerings, with recent innovations taking advantage of advanced ASIC chips and Asanté's patented GoldcardTM stacking design. Innovative switch hardware architecture will enable the company to extend the platform as standards and network trends change, combining 100Mbps and 10Mbps technology into powerful and flexible product offerings that are Gigabit Ethernet-ready.

Asanté entered the market rolling out several new 10+100 workgroup and segmentation switches (ReadySwitch 5104 and Asanté 5216 switches), followed by the new IntraSwitch product and Asanté's most significant entry to date: the new IntraStackTM stackable 10/100 dual-speed Fast Ethernet switch. An ideal solution for publishing and prepress shops, IntraStack provides the expandability needed to address immediate performance needs as well as future migrations to next-generation Gigabit Ethernet (using special add-on modules).

Along with the boom in switching, customers are increasingly looking for a combined solution with Fast Ethernet shared technology. According to IDC, the $216 million Fast Ethernet hub market grew nearly 430 percent in 1996 - with Asanté becoming the 5th-ranked provider worldwide. A leader in Fast Ethernet, Asanté began shipping 10/100 cards and 100Base-TX hubs as early as 1995 and today offers a complete line of products - including managed, stackable hubs as well as "FriendlyNet" unmanaged hubs, 100Base-FX options and 10/100 bridge products.

Teamed with Asanté's NetDoubler network acceleration software, the Asanté Fast Ethernet solution provides unparalleled performance gains. Through its own development efforts as well as strategic partnerships with leading prepress providers such as Scitex, Helios, IPT and Xinet, Asanté now supports all key server platforms in the prepress market - including NT, Sun, Silicon Graphics, AppleShare, AIX and others. Today, "numerous prepress shops swear by Asanté's NetDoubler" according to American Printer magazine (June 1997). Worzalla Publishing and Quad Graphics are just two of many prepress organizations nationwide that utilize the technology.

Asanté offers a complete line of award-winning Ethernet and Fast Ethernet adapters for PC and Macintosh computers, including PCI, NuBus, ISA, and PCMCIA cards. The company also bundles the popular NetDoubler network acceleration software with its Fast Ethernet cards for maximum performance value to the customer.

Products

Corporate History

October 1988
Asanté founded by Jeff Lin and Wilson Wong to design, manufacture and market Ethernet networking products

April 1989
Asanté ships first Ethernet adapter card for Macintosh computers

September 1990
Asanté ships first non-intelligent Ethernet hub

June 1991
Asanté captures #1 worldwide market share position in Macintosh Ethernet adapter cards

Fall 1991
Asanté assembles top intelligent Ethernet hub design team

August 1992
Asanté ships first intelligent 10BASE-T hub and first network management software

May 1992
Asanté ships Ethernet adapter cards for IBM PC and compatible computers. Asanté now offers one of the industry's most complete families of Ethernet adapter cards for both PCs and Macintoshes

September 1992
Headquarters moves from 20,000 square feet in Sunnyvale, California to 90,000 square feet in San Jose, California

March 1993
Company debuts full-featured, 72-port, intelligent Ethernet hub

1993
Asanté is selected as "Minority Manufacturer of the Year" by the U.S. Department of Commerce

December 1993
Asanté goes public on the NASDAQ stock exchange

March 1994
Asanté introduces NetStacker, the industry's first "stackable chassis"

May 1994
Asanté ranked 19th Best Small Company by Business Week magazine

August 1994
Asanté ranked 29th Fastest Growing Company in America by Fortune

July 1995
Asanté introduces first switch product: ReadySwitch

December 1995
Asanté introduces first switch product: ReadySwitch

January 1996
Asanté ranked 10th fastest growing (networking) company, 1990-95 by NetworkWorld Magazine

November 1996
Asanté receives Top 50 Award for the second consecutive year from Deloitte & Touche, Nasdaq and Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Network as one of the fastest growing companies in the Silicon Valley.

1997
Company releases ground-breaking new IntraSpection program. Network Computing magazine said it "might well be considered the definitive web-based network management application."

1997
Award-winning NetDoubler network acceleration utility now supports Scitex products and all popular server platforms for publishing and prepress, including Microsoft Windows NT, Unix and Mac.

1997
Sets new strategic direction as provider of high-performance intra-networking solutions for graphics and image-intensive applications.

Asante Technologies

Products

Corporate History

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