Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), in its typical over the top flair, revealed that it's going to debut a major new consumer product in October, and industry watchers believe it could be a consumer-grade TelePresence videoconference system.
Although Cisco would not provide any details on what they're going to debut Oct. 6, but according to Reuters Robert Lloyd, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Operations said in May that it plans to begin offering a consumer version of its TelePresence systems by the end of 2010. Business users that purchase a Cisco TelePresence system pay about $300,000, but a consumer version would be priced at around $500.
Given Cisco's continued movement in the consumer space with the purchase of Pure Digital, the maker of the Flip video camera, consumer-grade TelePresence system isn't that much of a stretch. During its Q4 09 earnings call last August, Cisco's CEO John Chambers said that video will be a major growth driver for the company.
Gaining a critical mass of consumer-grade TelePresence won't be easy for the routing giant. Along with the $500 price tag, the other obvious challenges Cisco are a lack of available broadband connections and competing with well-established free video services such as Skype.
For more:
- Reuters has this article
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