Palm sales boost 3Com's revenue

3Com's slight revenue growth in its third fiscal quarter was attributed to sales of its handheld computing products from Palm, the unit that the networking giant spun off earlier this month.

The results came as the company announced a sweeping restructuring plan, aimed at revitalising its position as a provider of networking products to small and medium-sized businesses and service providers.

For the period ending 25 February, 3Com's revenue increased slightly to $1.42bn (£905m) compared with $1.41bn in 1999. Net profit rose a whopping 464 per cent to $506.3m or $1.40 a share from $89.7m or 24 cents a share in 1999.

Sales of 3Com's handheld computing products leapt 116 per cent to $272.3m, while revenue from the company's network systems unit, which includes switches, hubs and Lan telephony products, remained flat at $591m.

Sales of personal connectivity products, such as network interface cards, home networking systems, and analogue and broadband modems, fell 15 per cent to $552m.