Cisco shutters Flip business, takes consumer mulligan

[Dusty Ayres]

Apologies if this has already been posted:

Cisco on Tuesday announced that it will shutter some of its consumer businesses and realign what’s left to support its core networking infrastructure businesses.
That means that the company will:

• Close down its popular Flip business, acquired for $590 million in March 2009;
• Refocus its home networking business for “greater profitability and connection to the company’s core networking infrastructure” as Cisco expands it into a home video platform;
• Integrate its umi consumer videoconferencing product into the company’s Business TelePresence product line, transitioning the product to an enterprise and service provider go-to-market model;
• Take the core video technology integration of Cisco’s Eos media solutions business and use it elsewhere in the company.

Cisco says its four key company priorities remain core routing, switching and services; collaboration; architectures; and video.
“We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support of our network-centric platform strategy,” CEO John Chambers said in a statement.

Cisco shutters Flip business, takes consumer mulligan

 

[infinix]

Are Flips actually popular? I have never seen one actually being used by anyone around me. Not at wedding, birthday parties, graduations, you name it. And I live in a major market on the North East Corridor.

 

[Dusty Ayres]

^Neither have I; it seems that most people save up and buy one of the better camcorders, or they just use the video portion of their DSLR's.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

^ I have one, and it's awesome. Takes better quality videos than either a still camera or my camera phone and was a hell of a lot easier to use. If Cisco just dropped the price down to the neighborhood of $50 and stopped fucking around with the HD versions they could have stolen the entire market; a tiny bit of development to shrink their size down would have closed the deal.

 

[infinix]

I looked at the specs of a Flip, and it does have some really nice features. The form factor and the ease of use make it quite attractive.

Also, before Cisco bought it, the company seemed to be doing quite well. So what happened? where did it go wrong? Doesn't seem like there was much marketing effort for the device, at least in where I live.

 

[Crazy Eddie]

There wasn't, in fact the Flip is selling extremely well even now despite the complete lack of marketing and lack of product development. I think Cisco's kinda being assholes by shuttering the production line instead of letting the startup company they bought out go independent again and sell them independently, or at the very least, selling that division to someone else. They have literally NOTHING to loose by doing so, and nothing to gain by choosing not to.

 

[Saturn0660]

We sell the shit out of them at work.. Heck, my daughter has one. She uses it all the time.

 

[shivkala]

I got one a few months ago and love it. Dead simple to use and a great way to have video memories of my kids.

The school where I teach has a few also, again, since they are very easy to use and the fact that they are not that expensive (considering the cost of other camcorders). I've also seen a lot of other teachers on-line post about how great they are and how much they can use them.

 

[FalTorPan]

I like my Flip. I think it's pricey for what it does, but it is convenient and easy to use.

I own a smartphone with a camcorder feature, but I never think to use the phone for that purpose. Don't know why.

 

[shivkala]

My cellphone camcorder is nowhere near the quality of the Flip camera I have. I also have to contend with a rather slow and finicky UI on the phone which results in me trying to finagle the camcorder and missing what I wanted to film in the first place. While I do like the fact that I can upload to the 'net from my phone instantly, unlike my Flip, the hassle of doing it has meant that in the year I had the phone prior to buying the Flip, I only uploaded 2-3 videos.

With the Flip, I can easily start filming within a few seconds of taking it out and turning it on. I did buy an off-brand (and cheaper) HDMI cable from Amazon and I can see the videos on my big screen TV before deciding whether to keep them, let alone upload them for the world to see.

I also have more storage room on the Flip, though, I could buy a bigger memory card for the phone. The Flip has better battery life than my phone and, though I've never tested it, I have a feeling that the Flip would last longer than my phone if I were to somehow compare the two and fill-up the 2 hours of on-board storage room on the Flip. Plus, if my cell-phone dies, I need to find an outlet or buy one of those extended battery packs. With the Flip, I'd just need to get a pack of AA's and keep going.

I'm sure some people would find their cell adequate or even better than a Flip or similar camera. However, for my money, it was worth it to get a dedicated camera. The Flip lets me easily take videos of my family and for what we use it for, as well as how often, it made more sense than spending more money on a camcorder with more features.