3Com Corporation today announced that it plans to outsource all of its manufacturing and realign its product development and supply chain capabilities as part of its ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and reduce cost. Many of 3Com’s rivals in different spaces either outsource manufacturing to third-parties or simply sell chips to makers of actual products, the 3Com’s move is not a surprising here.

Over the next six months, 3Com will complete the outsourcing of all of its direct manufacturing, distribution and related activities for its enterprise networking products between two partners, Flextronics, Singapore and Jabil Circuit, Saint Petersburg, Florida. Flextronics will also assume responsibility for 3Com’s global distribution from its regional hubs.

3Com also announced it has established a Taiwan Design Center (TDC) which will be responsible for the continued design and manufacture of low-end, standardized volume products and will be staffed by 3Com employees and Original Design Manufacturer (ODM) partner employees. The company expects the TDC to be operational in its fiscal Q2, ending in November 2003, and fully staffed by the end of its fiscal Q4, ending in May 2004.

Today’s actions will, as it happens nowadays, result in a global reduction in force affecting manufacturing, product development and supply chain operations, including the closure of 3Com’s Dublin, Ireland manufacturing facility, which is expected to occur by the end of February 2004. Approximately 1000 3Com employees worldwide will be laid off as a part of 3Com’s new business strategy.