CHIPCOM RATED NUMBER ONE BY RESELLERS IN 1994 VAR BUSINESS MAGAZINE REPORT CARD.

SOUTHBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--November 7, 1994 -- Chipcom Corporation (Nasdaq/CHPM) today announced it was the highest rated networking hardware vendor in VAR Business magazine's recently published 1994 Annual Report Card issue.

For the past nine years, VAR Business magazine has asked value added resellers (VARs) to provide a comprehensive review of their vendors' product and distribution channel strategies, and also surveyed VARs' satisfaction with leading vendors in various categories.

In addition to achieving the highest overall score, Chipcom also swept the four primary categories of Products, Pricing, Support, and Partnership, finishing first in each of these categories against the six other networking hardware vendors evaluated, including: SynOptics and Wellfleet (now Bay Networks), 3Com, Proteon, SMC, and ACC. The company also finished first in 14 out of the 16 sub-categories in which companies were measured.

Of the 40 total hardware, software and networking companies evaluated as part of the 1994 Annual Report Card issue, only one other company in the entire survey (Motorola) duplicated Chipcom's achievement of finishing first in all the major categories. A partial list of some of the other organizations that had their reseller programs evaluated includes: Apple, Borland, Compaq, Data General, Digital Equipment, Hewlett-Packard, Lotus, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, and Sun Microsystems.

"These days, when it's more important than ever that vendors provide their resellers with quality products and support, Chipcom has skillfully organized a VAR program that offers resellers a strong, reliable product line, and expert, comprehensive technical and marketing support," said Elaine Kingoff, special projects and research director at VAR Business. "It's not surprising the company finished first, overall, in the networking hardware portion of our 1994 Annual Report Card, and at the top of all four primary categories as well."

According to Bruce L. Cohen, Chipcom's senior vice president, worldwide field operations, "Because Chipcom employs an indirect, third-party distribution strategy, it is very important that we have a close relationship with our channels. The results of this year's VAR Business Report Card are extremely gratifying, and are a tremendous validation of the quality of our people, products, programs, ethics, and practices."

Founded in 1983, Chipcom Corporation designs, manufactures, markets, and supports fault-tolerant intelligent switching systems, including hub, internetworking and network management products, for facility and enterprise network computing environments. The Southborough, Mass.-based company reported record revenue of $185 million for the first nine months of its 1994 fiscal year, ended September 24, a 65 percent increase over the same period of 1993. Together with its resellers, Chipcom has a presence in more than 40 countries, and the company employs over 800 people worldwide.

Chipcom was ranked Number 16 on Financial World magazine's 1994 list of America's best 200 growth companies, Number 81 on Fortune magazine's 1994 list as one of the 100 fastest-growing companies in the United States, and Number 150 on Forbes magazine's 1994 list as one of the 200 best small companies in America.

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    CONTACT:  John H. Ricciardone      Laura Desmarais
              Chipcom Corporation      Beaupre & Co. Public Relations
              508-624-6840             603-436-6690