Adaptec Shatters ATM Price Barrier; New ATM25 PCI adapter is industry first under $200; three other new adapters establish price leadership.

MILPITAS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 1996--Adaptec, Inc. announced four new PCI ATM adapters that establish its price leadership in the market: the ANA-5910EL, the ANA-5910DX, the ANA-5930, and the ANA-5940. The manufacturer's suggested retail prices (MSRPs) for the adapters are $199, $349, $495, and $595, respectively. A new Adaptec-designed, standards-based physical layer IC, and a new custom SAR (Segmentation And Reassembly) chip allow for greater functionality at dramatically lower prices.

According to David Mendenhall, marketing manager of networking products at Adaptec, "With measured performance in excess of 17 times that of switched 10 Mb/s Ethernet, 155 Mb/s ATM is a powerful server technology. In addition, 25 Mb/s ATM in the desktop and workgroup servers provides more than three times the power of switched 10 Ethernet, supercharging the workgroup server. Strong performance and functionality plus adapter prices that begin at an MSRP of $199 are going to make it increasingly difficult for customers not to migrate to ATM. I would add that our powerful, value-priced adapters and software help ensure that Adaptec will be a big part of that migration."

Adaptec's New Adapters

The ANA-5910EL (ATM25 for PCI) supports 1024 open virtual circuits and up to 40 active virtual circuits. It is aimed at desktop users who want ATM's superior capability but have so far been reluctant to switch due to cost. The ANA-5910EL has 128 KB of buffer memory and a manufacturer's suggested retail price is $199. It will ship with standards-compliant LAN Emulation (LANE) software and drivers for Windows 3.1x, Windows 95, Windows NT, DOS, and OS/2. NetWare drivers will be available in July. This OS support is Adaptec's broadest to date.

The ANA-5910DX (ATM25 for PCI) is configured with 512 KB of memory and supports 1024 open virtual circuits and up to 200 active virtual circuits. More active virtual circuits make it suitable as a high-performance desktop adapter or a workgroup server adapter. It has an MSRP of $349 and ships with all the software listed above. It also includes support for CIP (Classical IP) on Windows NT.

The ANA-5930 and the ANA-5940 (ATM155 for PCI) both support 1024 open virtual circuits and up to 200 active virtual circuits. They are suitable for very intensive desktop applications and are robust workgroup server adapters. Both adapters have 512 KB of buffer memory. The ANA-5930 is designed with a UTP (unshielded twisted pair) interface and the ANA-5940 is designed with an MMF (multimode fiber) interface. The adapters ship with all Adaptec LANE software support and also include support for CIP on Windows NT. The MSRPs are $495 and $595, respectively.

Compatibility and availability

All the new adapters are fully backward compatible with existing Adaptec software. The MSRPs became effective on June 1, 1996. The ANA-5910EL will ship on July 1; all other adapters are available now. Adaptec provides bandwidth management technologies for organizations building the global information infrastructure. Its high-performance I/O, connectivity, and network products are incorporated into the systems and products of major computer and peripheral manufacturers. Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Milpitas, Calif., Adaptec (NASDAQ:ADPT) employs 2500 people worldwide in design, manufacturing, sales, service, and distribution. Adaptec's home page is http://www.adaptec.com.

CONTACT: Adaptec, Inc.

Eric Brown, 408/957-6645

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