Belkin acquires Cisco’s Home Business, retains all things Linksys
What do you get when two networking giants combine? No, it's not Captain Router, but it could be something close.
In an interesting turn of events, Belkin has announced that it will be absorbing the entirety of Cisco’s home business division, including the brand Linksys, all of its technologies, products and even the employees. Belkin hopes that the acquisition will seriously bolster its business and give it at least 30% of market share in the home business segment in the US.
While acquisitions and mergers often lead to layoffs and corners being cut, Belkin has gone out of their way to assert otherwise. Belkin has issued a statement saying that not only will the brand name Linksys be retained in operation, but so will all the employees working under it. For the consumer, Belkin has promised to not only honour all valid warranties on Linksys products, but also offer all technical support for the Linksys portfolio of products, current and those sold in the near future.
“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. At Belkin we have developed great insight into consumer needs, and the experiences, solutions and products we bring to the market, including our WeMo home automation platform, will help us to grow Linksys’ market presence,” said Chet Pipkin, CEO of Belkin.
While the details of the merger are pretty clear with respect to how they would affect the end-consumer, what we don’t know is how much this is going to cost Belkin financially. This merger could be considered something similar to the Lenovo-IBM transaction.
Source: Engadget