V.32bis
In 1991, Rockwell introduced a low-cost chipset supporting the new 14,400 bit/s v.32bis standard, along with similar v.32 and v.22bis (2400 bit/s) versions, all of which supported MNP, v.42bis and, optionally, 9600 bit/s v.29 fax modem capabilities. Their system was introduced commercially in the SupraFAXModem 14400, which went on to become a runaway bestseller. Soon there were literally hundreds of similar models on the market, and Rockwell's competitors also rushed in with similar chipsets of their own.
Hayes was never able to re-establish itself as a market leader through this era. They quickly introduced their own v.32bis model in the fall of 1991, the US$799 Smartmodem Ultra 144, but this point Express 96 had little cachet, and the market was already flooded with lower-cost modems. They then split their line into the Accura and Optima brands, offering the Accura as a low-cost model, although the feature sets were not that different between the two lines. Hayes eventually purchased two of their competitors, Practical Peripherals and Cardinal, turning them into low-cost brands in order to compete with companies such as Zoom Telephonics.
As speeds increased with the introduction of v.34 and v.90, Hayes increasingly became a follower rather than a leader. By the mid-1990s their modems were also based on the Rockwell chip set, and had little to distinguish themselves from other vendors.
Oddly it was the Rockwell chip set that also re-standardized the various command sets back on the original high-speed ones introduced by Hayes. As the Rockwell-based systems became more and more common, other companies, like AT&T, introduced new versions of their modem chip sets with identical commands. Rockwell had taken their commands from the V-series Smartmodems, so by the mid-90s the market was once again based largely on a "real" Hayes command set.
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