Cisco ain't got the skills to make it in the consumer market

By Brad Reese on Thu, 01/01/09 - 4:01am.

In the opinion of yours truly, a very eye-catching critical salvo was fired this week at Cisco's much ballyhooed consumer market hype:

"In order for Cisco to compete with Samsung, Sony and even Apple, the company would need to rewire its entire DNA, and unfortunately, it ain’t got the skills," said Om Malik - Founder and Senior Writer of the emerging technology news site GigaOM.

"Cisco has a checkered past when it comes to diversification into new markets. Lets face it: Cisco’s skills are in selling equipment to corporations and the government, which is why their push into telepresence (video conferencing) and data center-related equipment makes a lot of sense.

"How does a company that gets big fat margins from selling expensive equipment (and paying its sales team accordingly) live with the razor-thin margins of consumer entertainment gear? For Cisco this would like climbing Mount Everest without an oxygen tank."

Read more about Om's take on Cisco pushing into the consumer market:

Cisco’s Misguided Foray Into the Living Room

Furthermore this week, Motley Fool also scolded Cisco's consumer market hype:

"Cisco has no interest in selling televisions. The company assumes that all TVs will one day be connected to home networks.

"To this Fool, it seems like an opportunity for Cisco to leverage its infrastructure strengths with a consumer electronics line. TVs aren't connected today, they'd be better if they were, so ... let's not build a networked TV?

"Never before have I seen cognitive dissonance elevated to high art."

Finally, view a timeline of Cisco's ambition to conquer the consumer market.

What is your take on Cisco's much ballyhooed consumer market hype?

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