Just two years ago Cisco spend $590 million by buying Flip Camera maker- Pure Digital Technology. Now, it announced it will shut down Flip.
According to the release, the move will cut about 550 jobs, cost Cisco around $300 million on a pre-tax basis for the fiscal 3rd and 4th quarters, and of course, disappoint many of the current Flip users.
Last week in an internal memo that Cisco publicized, CEO John Chambers saying the company would be taking "bold steps" to reorganize business. Cisco had lost its focus by trying to attack too many businesses. To narrow its priorities and refocus on its home networking technology, Chambers is gutting its consumer division which includes the Flip.
The Flip camera was a pretty neat gadget for a year or two, but video cameras are just about a standard feature on smartphones, not standalone gadgets. In five years it's hard to see the Flip as a big business for Cisco.
It is surprising that Cisco wasn’t trying to sell the business instead of just drop it completely. There must be some value in the brand.
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