Cisco to Kill Linksys Brand Name

Mav sent in this article that opens, "In a roundtable with the European press, John Chambers confirmed the "end of life" of the Linksys name, being replaced by the new and redesigned Cisco branding." He explains, "It will all come over time into a Cisco brand. The reason we kept Linksys' brand 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."

Comments

So what happens now

[0racle]

Does the consumer stuff get better, or the enterprise stuff get worse?

Re:So what happens now

[woodchip]

The consumer stuff stays crappy but you pay 20% more for the cooler enterprise-level brand name.

Re:So what happens now

[wwwillem]

the power of branding

We had in our office a little WiFi network based on those blue/purple Linksys routers. And it worked really well for couple of years. After some failures one of my colleagues decided it was time for a state-of-the-art replacement with those new silver colored Cisco/Linksys boxes. Yep, consumer pricing, but branded by Cisco.

Well, if I would get just 10 bucks for every hour he was on the phone with Cisco support or installing new firmware, I would be a rich man. Even up to stupid things that an configuration webpage for firewall port forwarding has 20 fields, but the moment you put in more than 10 entries, number 11 and higher don't work. Seems that the GUI designers didn't talk to the developers of the firewall software.

Not to mention the number of times we have to power-switch those stupid boxes (BTW, they look like grey Mac mini's). And half the time after replugging the power brick, the thing doesn't want to reboot and no lights come on. Because we have four of them, in a roaming network, I know it's not simply the failure of a single unit, but design flaws.

These are simply crappy design. Yes, they were cheap (like Linksys also always was) and yes they are Cisco branded. But definitely not professional Cisco quality!! I think Cisco should be careful, there is the chance they are dilluting their professional brand recognition with these low-cost, low-quality consumer products.

One word - Inprise

[tomhudson]

Borland - Inprise - Borland.

Should have been the plan from the beginning

[bconway]

The uninformed user knows Cisco as "the network company that the Internet is connected with." Being able to put that logo on consumer-grade broadband and networking products would/will continue to be a huge boon for marketing. Had someone told me 10 years ago that I could own *my very own* full-featured Cisco router for under $100, I would've given a finger to sign up.

Re:Should have been the plan from the beginning

[adolf]

But: They're not "full-featured", at least in standard trim. They're only good for NATing a network of computers to Teh Intarwebs.

With something like OpenWRT loaded onto such a device, somewhat more esoteric and useful stuff can be done. But even then, it's just a Linux box, whereas "full-featured" Cisco (non-Linksys) routers run IOS.

Oh, well.

Back on topic: My mother knows what a Linksys router is for. If the one at her house failed, she would be able to produce an equivalent replacement from Wal-Mart without my assistance. Abandoning the Linksys brand for everything to say Cisco will smash this brand-recognition and loyalty; she'd be just as likely to buy one that says "Belkin" as "Cisco."

Black and Decker and DeWalt again?

[calmdude]

Black and Decker used to be a trusted name amongst professionals until they started making toasters, household electric screwdrivers, etc. It eroded the brand. Black and Decker then took DeWalt, a brand that had languished against its competitors, but revitalized it by becoming the new name for Black and Decker's professional line of tools. Same tools, just a new name to get away from the consumer-grade equipment.

The same may happen to Cisco. Sometimes it's best to have a "professional-grade" brand versus a consumer-grade one.

Click here to learn a little bit more about the Black and Decker and DeWalt name game.

Maybe I was wrong...

[QuebecNerd]

...But when Cisco purchased Linksys a few years back I was under the impression that the deal was to leave these guys alone and give them alot of autonomy. I liked linksys because they were giving Cisco a run for their money in some product lines. Lately I saw too many Linksys products hitting the streets without being ready (WIP300 'iPhone', WRV200 VPN router,...) and I was afraid that something was wrong and that Cisco was taking over and the Linksys guys were muted from the inside. I don't see that in a good ways.

This may be modded as flamebait but back in the days when I ran an ISP, I know for a fact that if I had purchased Cisco products instead of Allied Telesyn, Livinston (Lucent) and others I would have run bankrupt, the price difference was 1:3 between Cisco and the other brands and I simply couldn't afford it. They are going to mess up the skinny athletic Linksys with their big fat lethargic ways... For me, Cisco is a brand name like 'Microsoft' but it really doesn't mean it's better...

Re:Name Recognition

[Belial6]

They may just not want to look stupid. My son's name is Conan. When people ask what nationality that is, I tell them "Cimmerian". They will often follow up with "Where is that?" I would tell them "Northern Hyboria". This generally illicits a knowing nod, and a "Oh, yeah." as if they know where that is, and just needed a reminder. So, while MAYBE they know what Cisco is, they also might just be buying it because they don't want to look ignorant.