Cisco is coming to Asia

NETWORK equipment and ­management provider Cisco Inc is further extending its technology into the consumer market.

The company said it will achieve this through the development and marketing of the Linksys by Cisco home-networking and entertainment products.

According to Graig Gledhil, Cisco consumer business group Asia-Pacific vice-president, there is an addressable retail market worth US$50bil (RM180 trillion) in the consumer market, particularly in home audio and home security hardware.

“The digital age is redefining the home consumers expectation for content,” Gledhil said in a media briefing in Cisco Malaysia’s office in Kuala Lumpur recently.

He said Cisco plans to capture the home user market in three phases.

The first phase is what the company calls the connected home where there is a proliferation of devices for accessing information.

The second is the media-enabled home where users can access more vibrant content.

“Although most Malaysian homes are still in Phase One, we see some advanced users shifting into Phase Two,” Gledhil said.

In the third phase, Cisco aims to bring visual networking into homes.

“We are building technology that will allow home users to conduct quality video teleconferences from their living room,” he said, adding that Cisco is working on a solution called Telepresence for the home which will show results in the next 12 to 18 months.

Cisco sees an opportunity for these consumer products in the Malaysian market due to the aggressive commitment in rolling out broadband technology by the Government, Gledhil said.

He said Malaysians are also keen on downloading content from the Internet and are actively scouring for such data.

“According to Nielsen Media Research, Malaysians are one of the top media junkies in the world and use the Internet actively to look for entertainment,” Gledhil said.

The company already has products in its portfolio for media enthusiasts and content creators to create, share and enjoy their media seemlessly and wirelessly.

The Linksys by Cisco media hub can be used as a central storage for all their media data from music to photographs and the Linksys by Cisco Wireless Home Audio.

“As more and more people go digital, there should be a central place where they can store their media so they won’t waste time looking for them in the future,” he said.

TheWireless Home Audio is a scalable home audio system that’s controlled using WiFi technology.

The products were launched at CES 2009, a consumer technology tradeshow in Las Vegas last month.

Gledhil foresees a quick adoption of the media hub in Malaysia because some people here are already using digital devices to record memorable moments, but said it could take several years for the product to go mainstream.

“This technology will be a boost to people who are already on broadband. As Malaysia’s broadband adoption grows, these products will grow with it and late adopters may even leapfrog the early ones,” he said.

However, the Wireless Home Audio is expected to experience a slower adoption by consumers. “It is targeted at a niche market so the entry price level may be a bit high (for many),” Gledhil said.

These products will be in Malaysia soon, Cisco said.

By the way, they are huge, what about you? Cisco Certification anyone?