3Com: H-P to Build Tech 'One-Stop Shop'

NEW YORK (TheStreet -- 3Com's(COMS) shock acquisition by Hewlett-Packard(HPQ) will create a one-stop shop for companies searching for a slew of different data center gear, according to Ron Sege, president and chief operating officer of 3Com.

"That's certainly the objective," he told TheStreet. "It really is bringing the servers, the storage, the networking [and] the software layer that ties all these things together."

There had been speculation that H-P was eyeing Brocade(BRCD) as a possible acquisition target, so the $2.7 billion 3Com deal surprised some tech industry observers.

"It's a bold move," said Sege. "I think everybody was speculating maybe something a little more linear. This was definitely a transformational decision."

Despite an extensive portfolio of networking products, 3Com had struggled to establish itself in a market packed with the likes of Cisco(CSCO) and Juniper(JNPR), although the Marlborough, Mass.-based firm offers H-P a lucrative gateway to China.

During 2009, more than half of 3Com's sales, just over $700 million, were generated in China, up from around $600 million in the prior year. H-P, for its part, is frantically expanding its Chinese presence, forging deals with the likes of China Mobile and basing its printer business in China.

"Just like politics, all business is local. Customer intimacy is more important [in China]. It's a lot more of a person-to-person approach to commerce," explained Sege. "Having that formula down, competing like a local company, is definitely important, and that has been an important part of our success."

3Com's H3C subsidiary has more than 30% of the Chinese networking market, and 3Com is playing a major role in the country's technology overhaul.