Cisco to pull the plug on Linksys

Cisco's CEO has confirmed the vendor will phase out its consumer-focused Linksys brand in favour of developing consumer-focused products under Cisco.

In a roundtable with European press, John Chambers, chairman and CEO of Cisco, said of the firm's consumer products: "In terms of the evolution of the branding, it will all come over time into a Cisco brand. The reason we kept the Linksys brand was because it was better known in the US than even Cisco was for the consumer. As you go globally there's very little advantage in that."

Chambers also highlighted the firm's 2006 rebranding as being part of its drive towards the consumer market. In addition, the Cisco CEO reiterated his belief that consumers make no distinction between their home networks and service provider networks.

In the weeks leading up to this move, Cisco created a new division solely focused on the small and medium business (SMB) market, headed by Rick Moran. Moran was formerly marketing chief for a number of Cisco's communication applications.

Linksys was originally founded in 1988 and focused mainly on networking hardware for home and small businesses. The brand is most well known for its range of broadband and wireless routers. Cisco acquired the firm in 2003. Since rebranding, Cisco has made increasingly aggressive moves towards consumer, SOHO and SMB markets, marking a shift away from its traditional high-end enterprise and telecoms focus. In addition to its move towards the lucrative consumer market, the vendor has also extended its reach to areas such as video conferencing and integrated communications.