FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
                                                                          97-010
                                                   For more information contact:
                                          Robert Hersh, Network Peripherals Inc.
                                               (408) 321-7300 or rhersh@npix.com


                            Network Peripherals Inc.
                         Acquires NetVision Corporation

               Makes Technology Investment in Gigabit Ethernet and
                   Very High Bandwidth Switching Technologies

MILPITAS,  Calif.  --  (BusinessWire)  -- April 30, 1997 -- Network  Peripherals
Inc.(NPI),  (NASDAQ:NPIX)  today announced that it has completed the transaction
to acquire NetVision Corporation, a privately-held company based on Long Island,
New York,  which is  developing  very high  bandwidth  LAN switching and Gigabit
Ethernet technologies.  The transaction will be accounted for as a purchase with
an  estimated  total cost of  approximately  $6 million,  including  payments to
NetVision  stockholders,  the assumption of certain  liabilities and transaction
expenses.   Network   Peripherals  expects  to  allocate  the  majority  of  the
acquisition cost to in-process research and development,  which will result in a
one-time charge to earnings in the quarter ending June 30, 1997.

NetVision was founded in 1993 by Robert Zecha and William Mahany to develop high
performance  multilayer switching products  incorporating  support for Ethernet,
Fast Ethernet and Gigabit Ethernet. Its competitive strength lies in its unique,
very high bandwidth  switching  (VHBS)  architecture,  its experience in Gigabit
Ethernet technology  development and its strong application  specific integrated
circuit  (ASIC)  development  capabilities.  The company has assembled a team of
technologists which together have designed over 25 ASICs and brought to market a
number  of  LAN  products   incorporating  multiple  high  speed  protocols  and
networking  switching designs including Ethernet,  Fast Ethernet,  FDDI, ATM and
Token Ring protocols in high speed architectures.

"We  are  impressed  by  NetVision's  expertise  in  cost-effective,  very  high
bandwidth  Layer 2 and Layer 3 switch  architectures,"  said  Pauline  Lo Alker,
Network Peripherals'  president and chief executive officer. "The acquisition of
NetVision  is another  critical  step in our  on-going  strategy to position our
company as a world-class  Ethernet switching technology  powerhouse.  We believe
NetVision's  experience in very high bandwidth  ASIC-based switching and Gigabit
Ethernet technologies will enable us to widen



our product portfolio to include high bandwidth,  high density, low cost systems
with differentiating switching functionality," Alker said.

NetVision  Corporation  and its employees,  headed by Robert Zecha,  NetVision's
founder  and  president,  will  become  part of  Network  Peripherals'  advanced
technology  development group in New York,  reporting to Oliver Szu, NPI's chief
technology officer.

"We believe this  acquisition  brings to us a competitive  multilayer  switching
technology  for IP  traffic  and a very high  speed  backplane  architecture  to
support Gigabit  performance for  bandwidth-hungry  applications  such as video,
multimedia, Intranet/Internet access and workgroup CAD applications," Szu added.
"With  the  addition  of  this  set  of new  technologies  and  capabilities  to
complement  our existing Fast  Ethernet and FDDI  workgroup  switching  line, we
believe we will be able to provide our  customers,  VARs and OEM partners with a
very  complete and  competitive  set of high  performance,  low cost  multilayer
switching  solutions  that are  designed to handle IP switching  from  workgroup
desktops to departmental backbones."

Statements  in this release are  forward-looking  and have been made in reliance
upon the provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The
future events  described in such  statements  involve  risks and  uncertainties,
including:  pricing  actions  and new  product  introductions  by NPI and/or its
competitors;  the development and  commercialization  of new  technologies;  the
successful  integration of NPI and NetVision technologies and engineering staff;
the ability of NPI to recruit and retain  technical  and other staff;  and other
factors.

About Network Peripherals
Network  Peripherals Inc.  designs,  manufactures  and markets  high-performance
networking  solutions  for growing  workgroups.  These  products are designed to
enhance the bandwidth and  performance of  client/server  networks,  embrace all
popular  high-speed  technologies  and preserve the end-user's  current Ethernet
investments. With the introduction of the NuSwitch line, Network Peripherals now
offers  more  choices  in  stackable,  workgroup  switching  hubs than any other
vendor.  In  addition,  all NPI  products  are  backed by  Network  Peripherals'
unparalleled NuCare support and service policy, and are thus designed to provide
the lowest cost of  ownership  of any  workgroup  networking  solution.  Network
Peripherals maintains corporate headquarters, R&D, engineering and manufacturing
in Milpitas,  California  with additional  R&D,  engineering  and  manufacturing
facilities in Taipei, Taiwan, and regional offices throughout the world.

                                       ###

Network Peripherals and the Network  Peripherals logo are registered  trademarks
of Network  Peripherals Inc.  NuSwitch,  NuCard,  NuCare,  NuHub and NuCleus are
trademarks of Network  Peripherals  Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their
respective holders.