With sales direct to consumers at only 2% of Cisco’s $40 billion business, Cisco wants to add yet another box or two to the home network. Cisco will introduce at CES a line of home entertainment products, including its own wireless digital stereo.
The appeal of the residential market is obvious. HP has updated its MediaSmart Server, a home network appliance for data distribution and backup, and something similar is may be coming from Apple.
Cisco, rich with $27 billion in cash in a recession, has no interest in selling TVs but it assumes that eventually all TVs will connect directly to home networks.
Ultimately, the company says it expects to make the most money by offering home video conferencing. For Big Business, Cisco sellsTelepresence rooms to corporations for $40,000 to $300,000 each. Cisco is on record this year saying it will bring a cheaper version to consumers in the very near future.