The popular and affordable Flip video camera will soon be discontinued by Cisco Systems. This is in accordance to the overhaul that the company is planning. In recent statements, Cisco Systems CEO- John Chambers said that they are making tough decisions in the wake of recent lapses in execution. “We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support of our network-centric platform strategy,” he added.
Cisco acquired Flip in 2009 for $590 million in order to build strong consumer business. Despite the fact that there was a choice to sell the brand, Cisco remained silent about why they decided to discontinue it rather than putting it up for purchase.
According to market research firm NDP group, over 23% of Flip cameras we’re sold in the United States on the year 2010, more than the selling point of Sony and Eastman Kodak.
While waiting to clean up inventory, Cisco will cut approximately 550 jobs from its 73,000 when the Flip is discontinued.
In earlier reports, they said that the company’s focus would merely be on five areas; routing, switching and services; collaboration; data center virtualization; architectures; and video.
Source: Reuters