Netgear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| NETGEAR | |
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| Type | Public (NASDAQ: NTGR) |
| Founded | 1996 |
| Headquarters | Santa Clara, California |
| Key people | Patrick Lo, CEO & Chairman |
| Industry | Communications equipment |
| Products | Hubs, Routers, Switches |
| Revenue |  US$727.8 million (2007) |
| Employees | 518 (Q4 2007) |
| Website | http://www.netgear.com |
Netgear, founded in 1996, is a US manufacturer of computer networking equipment and other computer hardware. The company was incorporated January 8, 1996 as a subsidiary of Bay Networks, to "focus on providing networking solutions for small businesses and homes."[1] In August 1998, the company was purchased by Nortel as part of its acquisition of Bay Networks. NETGEAR remained a wholly owned subsidiary of Nortel until March 2000 when it began transitioning to third-party ownership, and became fully independent from Nortel as of February 2002.[2][3]
Netgear sells primarily through a sales channel network, which includes traditional retailers, online retailers, direct market resellers, value added resellers, and broadband service providers in North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and Asia Pacific. Its main retail competitors are Linksys and D-Link. More recently, HP's range of cost-effective ProCurve switch technology has entered the market as a strong competitor.
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[edit] Product Range
Netgear's range of products are primarily focused in the networking market, with networking products for home and business use, including wired and wireless technology.
[edit] ProSafe Switches
Netgear market a range of network products for the business sector, most notably their ProSafe switch range. Although cost effective and competitive with close rivals D-Link and Linksys, many problems are reported with some of their switches such as random port failure and random reboots. As of May 2007, Netgear provide limited lifetime warranties across their entire range of ProSafe products for as long as the original buyer owns the product.[4].
[edit] Manufacturing
Netgear outsources some of its manufacturing to other electronics companies, including Askey Computer Corporation, Asus, Cameo Communications, Delta Networks, Foxconn, Senao and SerComm. Netgear believes by outsourcing its manufacuring means it is able to deliver a better cost price to consumers as well as keeping the quality to their expected standard.[5][6]
[edit] Quality
Some internet enthusiast sites reported buggy products in consumer wireless routers during 2003. For example, there was a class action lawsuit against the Netgear WGT624, claiming it contained faulty hardware or software.[7]
[edit] Notable products
[edit] Platinum II Enclosure
NETGEAR's Platinum II Enclosure (a case design used in most of NETGEAR's consumer products) was winner of a 2004 Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum.
