3Com Corp will strive for sales growth in 1997 and is prepared to forego growth in gross margins to get it, executive vice president Bob Finocchio told the gathering – We’re going for as much growth as possible, Finocchio, who is also manager of 3 Com’s Network Systems Operations, but it won’t let its gross margins fall, We will behave within our model of 52% to 54%, he told Reuter after his presentation. Its share of the network equipment market ranks second to Cisco Systems Inc, but 3Com believes it can get closer to Cisco in 1997, which it will enter with a strong new product cycle, he said, citing the Fast Ethernet EtherLink XL and Fast EtherLink XL, products where he says 3Com is now the market leader, having overtaken Intel Co rp’s Fast Ethernet product.
