Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Cisco Planning To Acquire Skype

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the can-you-see-me-now dept.

rexjoec writes "Cisco is making a bid for Skype. The deal, if successful, would derail a planned initial public offering from Skype and redraw the battle lines in the lucrative market of video communications." The rumored price is $5B.

32 of 148 comments (clear)

  1. Not sure how I feel by Windows+Breaker+G4 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I am not sure how I feel about this, we could see sweet void phones from cisco, on the other hand they could really killy Skype. Oh well I guess we have google voice now right?

    --
    brickspeed.net for your old Volvo performance addiction
    1. Re:Not sure how I feel by jgagnon · · Score: 3, Insightful

      At least it wasn't Oracle... :p

      --
      Remember to maintain your supply of /facepalm oil to prevent chafing.
    2. Re:Not sure how I feel by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Is the company you work for that cheap that you have to share a desk and phone?

      Or are you at home?

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    3. Re:Not sure how I feel by erroneus · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I know how I feel about it. It is beyond time for some enterprising individuals to team up to create an open video chat specification complete with the ability to conference in multiple people at once like this oovoo thing. (No Linux client! Bastards!) People could then put up their own servers and install clients on all OSes, not just the ones companies want to support and then Skype is less relevant.

      All I see at the moment is that in spite of the existence of F/OSS projects that do exactly what I suggest, none of them are in wide enough use to be considered a peer with Skype and definitely Cisco. That, more or less, needs to change. Once Cisco gets Skype, there will be radical change and people will want to move on to something else.

    4. Re:Not sure how I feel by (Score.5,+Interestin · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Maybe Skype will actually stop sucking if Cisco buys them.

      Nope, you'll just get Cisco's mega-suckage added to the existing Skype suckage.

      Actually, this whole mess is my fault. Some years ago I bought a nice Linksys router/AP. Shortly afterwards, Cisco adsorbed Linksys, and turned its suckage-ray of doom on them.

      Last week, I bought a Skype phone. Looks like history is about to repeat itself.

  2. Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by wshs · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They do this with pretty much every company they buy. Psionic and Riverhead come to mind quickly for me. The only reason they kept the Linksys brand was because they had no competing product at the time.

    1. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by bsDaemon · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I recently bought an E1000 802.11n wifi ap/router, which is ostensibly a Linksys product, but unlike other Linksys products I've used in the past, this one has the Cisco logo on it in a fairly conspicuous manner, and linksys.com now redirects you to home.cisco.com. I don't know if that's an indicator that they might be planning on phasing out the Linksys brand or not though. Probably not. I think the best parallel I can come up with would be the 'Squire' brand of musical instruments, which is produced by Fender but are basically cheap pieces of crap that they don't want to sully their main-line brand name with.

    2. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by Kepesk · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Buying up companies at a frantic pace seems to be the hot trend among powerful corporations.

      Soon there will only be two corporations: Microsoft-Cisco-Skype-NBC-Pepsi-McDonnalds-Halliburton-Friskies Corp and Apple-AOL-Time-Warner-CBS-CocaCola-BurgerKing-BP-FancyFeast Corp.

      Then you'll start getting weird messages on your computer... "You better not buy Fancy Feast." "We saw you drink that Pepsi."

      --
      Help me fix my brother's injured butt!
    3. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by Idiomatick · · Score: 2, Insightful

      :( your future includes AOL. I can't subscribe to your beliefs.

    4. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by mlts · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The reason companies do the buying is that R&D is so heavily penalized in the US, due to tax breaks, liability, and other things. If a small company puts out a product, it is better to wait to see if they face lawsuits, then buy them if nothing happens as opposed to creating a product for a new market.

      Plus, American companies are shackled to the fact that they have to make a profit quarter per quarter, or shareholders can sue the company in the ground. Buying a company is a lot easier to explain to the accountants and board members as opposed to charging off some chunk of change for a R&D facility for new products that won't have an ROI for 5-10 years.

    5. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by TooMuchToDo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The problem is cash sitting around doing nothing. NPR was running a story yesterday talking about how the top 120 companies have over $1 trillion of cash sitting around, and investors are demanding they either distribute it to them via dividends or invest it via mergers and acquisitions. So, yeah, if it's either earning 0.5 percent in a money market account or buying up a ton of relatively cheap companies with the potential for a much larger return, you go on a spending spree and buy up whatever you think is going to have a decent ROI.

    6. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by TheCycoONE · · Score: 2

      You've been watching too much demolition man.

    7. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Hahaha you should read Jennifer Government by Max Barry...

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    8. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by Kepesk · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Actually, another part of the reason (and I've seen this first-hand in the monster corporation I work for) is that they want to buy up little companies with good ideas before their competitors do. Sometimes all they do is buy it up and shut it down; they don't want to use the company's assets, they just want to prevent competitors from using those assets.

      --
      Help me fix my brother's injured butt!
    9. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by h4rr4r · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Or here in reality; Mergers and Acquisitions mean big deal closing payouts to C level execs and paying dividends to investors don't.

    10. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Google Voice (aka Grand Central),
      Google Chat, now with phone dialing (PC to PC, PC to Phone VOIP)
      Gizmo5 (Acquired last year)Voip Telephony Company
      Adroid Phone

      Google has ALL the pieces needed to make a serious run at SKYPE, which is why SKYPE is running to Wall Street now looking for IPO or White Knight, IMHO. SKYPE ought to be scared, because they don't have the bulk and push Google does.

      And Google doesn't have to sit on Gizmo5 much longer, if they are working towards integration of the four. The pieces are almost there for the first and complete VOIP end to end network, with Cell as backup.

      THAT is just how I see it.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    11. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by pclminion · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Plus, American companies are shackled to the fact that they have to make a profit quarter per quarter, or shareholders can sue the company in the ground.

      And I have to make monthly mortgage payments or the bank will take my house away. See me complaining?

      If you don't want to be shackled by shareholders, don't trade your shares publicly. As a public company you are subject to the investing acumen and superstitions of the general public -- you're basically taking a loan from thousands of "John Smiths." And of course these people just want to see profitability in the short term.

      If I came in here bitching about losing my house because I couldn't keep my creditors happy, you'd tell me to grow up, and if I didn't want to be subject to their whims, maybe I should finance my home myself. But when the same thing happens to a corporation you pity the poor little corporation. Weird.

    12. Re:Cisco Planning to Squash Another Competitor by kamochan · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The same applies also in Europe, even if for slightly different reasons (labor costs and liabilities). R&D is expensive for big corps, and growth is expensive for small corps.

      This leads to most start-ups having a business strategy of doing R&D with a skeleton crew, then getting bought by big corp X. Where X is often known from the moment the start-up is launched. Any business done before the exit stage is purely to prove the validity of the developed solution. A tech start-up without an exit strategy in the 21st century = doomed to fail.

      This of course will lead to the MegaCorp world the GP envisioned. It's unavoidable.

  3. Did Google see this coming... by onionman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Certainly seems like Google saw this coming from a long way off given that they have been working hard to integrate Skype-like features into gmail.

    It makes me wonder how many Cisco/Skype executives were using gmail accounts...

    1. Re:Did Google see this coming... by BrokenHalo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Given that I'm not that keen on participating in Google's data-mining projects, I am underwhelmed by Google Voice offerings. Skype (despite its various failings) offers a comprehensive voice (and video if you want it) or chat connection that is independent of your browser, and thus is to an extent more or less insulated from your other online habits. Skype can be swallowed up by pretty much anyone other than Google (so long as those services remain intact) and I'll be content.

  4. I welcome this. by jellomizer · · Score: 2, Informative

    Skype is rather Nasty to deal with if you have problems. If it is urgent there is no Voice support, And the email links to ask for a problem are vague and will lead you to the wrong path, and with horible auto replies that will just make you mad.

    While with Cisco sure you will be on hold for 3 hours but at least you can talk to someone and get it resolved.

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:I welcome this. by oogoliegoogolie · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If it is urgent there is no Voice support,
      If it's urgent then use your telephone! Or Windows Messenger. Or how about email?

      I rather enjoy Skype the way it is right now. Cisco is going to destroy Skype intentionally or accidentally by doing one of two things:
      1) Add Skype's technology into their products, stick a "Powered by Skype" sticker on the box, and kill off any consumer-level access Skype as we enjoy it now. Looking back at Cisco's purchases in the last decade and you'll see this is very likely.
      2) As an attempt to make Skype profitable, they'll quadruple the prices and charge for the ones that are currently free. Coming soon:unused Skype credits that expire in 30 days.

    2. Re:I welcome this. by Ironhandx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Really? I'm hoping they add built in Skype functionality to their routers. Cordless phones with the router as the base. Shit they could even bundle it. The market potential is HUGE.

    3. Re:I welcome this. by wshs · · Score: 2, Informative

      With Cisco, you'll be on hold for 3 hours, until you read off your product serial number. Then they tell you you've reached EOL for the product in question, and offer to sell you an identical product whose only difference is the product number, at a vastly increased price. However, they won't tell you what the price is until you sign an NDA, because the gouge each customer differently.

  5. This just in... by countSudoku() · · Score: 3, Funny

    Reports are surfacing that Oracle and Cisco attempted to purchase each other this morning and were destroyed in the clash. A very perturbed Larry Ellison had this to say; "When I saw they tried to purchase US I fell over into my zen rock garden and bumped my head pretty bad on a large decorative boulder." A spokeswoman for Cisco remarked; "They got database software all up in my router!" to which Larry replied; "Well, you got router all over my new Sun hardware biz!" Film at 11... AM, then lunch.

    --
    This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
  6. Re:iPhone by Cisco? by Luckyo · · Score: 4, Informative

    Skype already had a working implementation on the world's biggest mobile plarform, as symbian application called fring allowed you to essentially tunnel into your skype account and make phone to pc, pc to phone and phone to phone video calls on any symbian mobile phone with front facing camera (which is pretty much any decent nokia made in the last 4 years).

    At some point, folks at skype decided that they didn't want to be a source for free video calls over 3g and blocked fring. But to actually need to make a phone when all you need is to allow integration into already existing phones for money... why?
    Video calls already worked for mobile phones over skype for a while (and apparently work again over fring itself as it added the functionality recently, but fring still seems to lack PC endpoint application). They could probably set up a small charge for every time you video call a phone with data connection, though I suspect that they have to hurry before one of the small start ups like fring grabs enough of the market and becomes skype of the mobile world.

  7. Re:Probably a good fit by whisper_jeff · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Anyone wanna revisit why eBay bought 'em in the first place?

    eBay bought Skype for $2.6 billion and is now rumored to be on the verge of selling it for $5 billion.

    I would imagine the reason eBay bought Skype is something along the lines of "to make $2.4 billion dollars profit" though I could be mistaken.

  8. Consider This..... by Atomm · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Cisco has a huge install base for business VoIP. Most of those businesses connect to land lines via traditional T-1 circuits. If Cisco integrated the Skype infrastructure with all those business customers, they could route calls over the Skype network bypassing the Telco's. From what I have seen, the average business long distance rate is 2-3 cents a minute. Cisco could charge 1 cent a minute and still make a fortune because they have such a large base of customers.

    Now, what if they did the same for International calling?

    I think it's going to move Skype away from Consumers and into the Business world where the real money is.

    --
    RTFG - Read The F#$%ing Google!
  9. Re:Probably a good fit by Wumpus · · Score: 4, Informative

    Somebody is going to make around $3 billion on this, but it isn't going to be eBay, who sold Skype last year for $2 billion, which was less than what they paid for the company when they bought it.

  10. Re:Privacy Concerns? by wshs · · Score: 3, Informative

    This is where CALEA comes into play.

  11. Maybe not by Mike+Van+Pelt · · Score: 2, Informative

    This is a rumor from TechCrunch. Maybe there's something to it, maybe not. All the other news items reporting this seem to be quoting the one TechCrunch source. Another news item said "A Source Close to Cisco" said there was nothing to the rumor.

    http://blogs.barrons.com/techtraderdaily/2010/08/31/cisco-has-not-had-talks-about-acquiring-skype-source-says/

  12. Re:iPhone by Cisco? by Cyberax · · Score: 3, Informative

    Skype is notoriously difficult to block. It uses all kinds of evasion tactics (culminating in HTTPS tunneling).