""The Long and Winding Road"" wrote in message news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > ""Elijah Savage"" wrote in message > news:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Cisco buys Linksys. > > > > > http://www.quicken.com/investments/news/story/?story=NewsStory/BW/20030320/a > 5141_1048177983.var&p=CSCO > > > > > Note that Cisco will continue with the Linksys name and operate the company > as a separate division. > > Cisco failed miserably in the SOHO / Consumer market. But there is a LOT of > money to be made there. So Cisco did what Cisco does - go out and buy a > company that does it right.
To be fair to Cisco, it is extremely hard to serve 2 distinct markets well. Cisco dominates in the enterprise/government market which demands features and integratability. Margins are high, sales are done mostly through the channel, and brand-name recognition and the 'golden halo' of the Cisco name are important. The SOHO market is different. Price is paramount, margins are low, and practically everything is done through retail. True indeed, there is good money to be made in the SOHO market. But it requires an entirely different mentality where competition is brutal and you have to construct a high-volume, low-margin business model - a far cry from the Cisco we know and love. It's the difference between operating Neiman-Marcus and Walmart. > > The advantage of operating the acquisition under its existing name, and > operating it separately is that Cisco doesn't get into the game of trying to > make their products interoperable from top to bottom. Part of their earlier > problem is customers expected seamless integration of the low end with the > high end, and Cisco couldn't make it happen. Linksys comsumer products - > wireless, DSL, cable, switches, etc are great products, especially for the > home market. Now Cisco is in the market as a player, not a wannabe. > > > > > > > -- > > "BSD is for people who love Unix - > > Linux is for people who hate Microsoft" Message Posted at: http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=65884&t=65834 -------------------------------------------------- FAQ, list archives, and subscription info: http://www.groupstudy.com/list/cisco.html Report misconduct and Nondisclosure violations to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
