Intel to Launch Products for PC Networking

In an effort to expand beyond its lucrative personal computer microprocessor business, Intel Corp. is launching a family of PC networking products that will be sold in computer stores under the Intel name.

“The rest of the business can’t succeed unless we can figure out a way to connect” the 80 million personal computers in the field, said Intel Chief Executive Andrew S. Grove, emphasizing that networking products were a key element of the company’s long-term strategy.

The 23 new products, which will be formally introduced today, include adapter cards that provide the connection between a personal computer and a network, software for managing network operations and devices that make it easy to send and receive faxes from PCs on a network.

The products will be marketed by Intel’s Portland, Ore.-based PC enhancement organization, which currently sells PC facsimile boards, add-on processors and other products. Unlike the company’s microprocessors, which are sold to PC manufacturers, the new networking products are intended for sale directly to PC users.

“One of the problems in the networking market is that all the products come from different suppliers,” said Frank Gill, senior vice president in charge of Intel’s non-chip businesses. “We’re trying to simplify the products and build on top of industry standards.”

All of the Intel offerings are designed to work with standard local area networking software such as that provided by Novel, Gill said, and most are simple enough to be installed by customers without assistance from technicians.