Is Linksys dead or not?

 

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By Simon Aughton

Posted on 30 Jul 2007 at 15:04

Cisco has announced plans to drop its Linksys brand - but doesn't appear to have told staff in its European offices.

Chief executive John Chambers told a press briefing that the company would never have entered the consumer market - with the $500 million purchase of Linksys in 2003 - had it not envisaged the gradual merging of both sides of the business.

As a result, the Linksys name will disappear, having been kept largely because it was well-known in the US market. As the company becomes increasingly global, that becomes less relevant, Chambers explained.

"In terms of the evolution of the branding, it will all come in under the Cisco brand," he said, adding that Cisco "fully intends to be aggressive" in consumer markets.

But his message did not appear to reach sections of his own company. A spokesperson for Cisco Europe told PC Pro that the Linksys brand is not been condemned.

"Linksys consumer and SMB products will continue to be marketed under the Linksys brand and co-exist in the market with Cisco branded connected home products over the near term," she claims.

"We will continue to examine our branding strategy going forward (as we have to date) and make changes if and when these changes add value to our customers' decision making processes and our channel partners."

Chambers' comments were captured on video, embedded below.