Intel may buy 3Com

Intel Corporation is looking to buy LAN heavyweight 3Com, a rival of thecompany in networking hardware. 3Com, which ran into problems when itpurchased U.S. Robotics last year, is looking for a partner to shoulder themassive debt its acquired. Rumors of the buyout have been circulating forweeks.

Currently, 3Com is the leader in networking peripherals such as NetworkInterface Cards (NICs), with 50% of the market. Intel is second, with 24%.One problem with this would be the government's ongoing investigation ofIntel, which has a virtual monopoly in the PC, workstation, and server microprocessor markets