I've a lot of respect for Cisco and its employees. Most of their innovation or acquisitions have turned into product leaders. I understand that their human network strategy needs a few major acquisitions in the consumer electronic market but I've considerable doubts about this recent acquisition and the price they paid for it ($590 million). I see a few reasons:- With a price tag between $100 and $200, you could spend a little more and have a better designed iphone.
- The device can only do one thing: video. I'm quite sure the market is expecting something more versatile than that (mp3 player, geo tagging). This would have been a great product 5 years ago.
- Where is the connectivity (software and network) to your social media youtube or facebook?
- It has no wireless capability (WiFi or GPRS). Yes, they can add it later on, but why acquire something that is so much behind the curve and has zero appeal to developers.
On the other hand, PureVideo has gained a lot of market share with a simple product. This acquisition is very good news for them, not so much for the CSCO shareholders.
