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January 25, 2013

Belkin in Talks to Buy Linksys Brand from Cisco

By Rory Lidstone, TMCnet Contributing Writer

As another major step in its exit from the consumer market, Cisco (News - Alert) recently entered into an agreement to sell off its Home Networking Business unit to Belkin, a company also known for producing home wireless networking products. As such, all of Cisco's home networking products and technology, along with the respected Linsys brand, will soon be the property of Belkin.



With this acquisition, Belkin stated that it will account for around 30 percent of the U.S. retail home and small business networking market.

Details of the agreement have not been disclosed, but it is known that the deal is expected to close in March. Current Linksys (News - Alert) owners have no need to worry, fortunately, as Belkin did say that it intends to maintain the Linksys brand and will honor the warranties on current and future Linksys products.

In fact, Chet Pipkin, CEO of Belkin, acknowledge the strength of the Linksys brand in a statement: "Linksys pioneered wireless connectivity capability around the globe, and has a strong brand renowned for its premium market position, the strength of its installed base and its proven dependability. Linksys users benefit from peace of mind in their home networking environment."

Furthermore, Cisco and Belkin intend to develop a strategic relationship on a variety of initiatives going forward, including retail distribution, strategic marketing and products for the service provider market. This is good news for consumers as having access to Cisco's specialized software solutions across all Belkin product lines will enable a seamless user experience.

While selling off sections of its consumer division, Cisco has also been making a number of acquisitions over the last few months to bolster its service provider and enterprise offerings, the most recent of which being the purchase of Intucell. Headquartered in Israel, Intucell provides mobile network providers with advanced self-optimizing network (SON) software for configuring and managing cellular networks automatically.

To find out more about Roberto D. De La Mora, Sr. Director, Unified Communications (News - Alert) and Cisco, visit the company at ITEXPO Miami 2013, taking place Jan. 29- Feb 1, in Miami, Florida. Roberto D. De La Mora is speaking during “ Making UC and Collaboration More Business Relevant to Individual Users For more information on ITEXPO Miami 2013 click here.




Edited by Brooke Neuman
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