Cisco Is The Latest Tech Firm To Believe It Can Be A Consumer Electronics Player

from the withholding-judgment dept

Someone should tell Cisco they're a little over a week late for making a big consumer electronics announcement. That show was the first week of January. However, it seems that Cisco has decided that it wants to be in the consumer electronics business, these days. It already borders on the consumer electronics space with its Linksys division and with its recent purchase of Scientific-Atlanta. However, now it's talking about selling more phones, radios and home theater equipment. It seems that everyone is falling in love with consumer electronics. Apple showed that it could make the leap from computer equipment to consumer electronics with the iPod, but so far, most other attempts have gone over that well. Companies like Gateway have shown that it's not as easy as just offering up some consumer electronics products. It makes sense for Cisco to be interested in the space, given the company's belief that just about every consumer electronics offering is about to get networked. However, that doesn't mean the company will be any good at offering its own products in the space. It also could upset some other vendors who have a bit more experience in the consumer electronics space, and with whom partnerships might have made a bit more sense.