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Cisco Closing Flip - Shrewd?

By Rick McCharles on May 2, 2011 7:43 PM | Permalink

In this widely quoted article by Electronic Products and Technology it is being said that Cisco's decision to close its Flip camcorder group was a shrewd decision. Other posts have called the decision courageous. Was it really? I don't think so. In my view it was simply time to come to terms with a bad investment decision and to cut their losses.

Cisco is convinced (and I agree) that video is an increasingly important aspect of communications technology and human interaction. Cisco's TelePresence and its acquisition of Tanberg are prime examples of Cisco's innovation and vision relative to the market impact of video.

However, Cisco seemed to overlook the fact that video capabilities are integrated into many multi-function consumer devices. My camcorder has been in the closet for at least a couple of years. The video capabilities built into smartphones, point and shoot cameras, SLRs and tablets have made single-purpose consumer video recording devices obsolete.

While Cisco's insight, product development and marketing of products for enterprise is second to none, products like the Flip and ūmi suggest that the company can do a better job at gauging trends and demands in the consumer space.

Rick McCharles

RIC Services

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Is Video Calling Ready for Mainstream Adoption?

By Rick McCharles on January 15, 2008 10:40 AM | Permalink

Scott Wharton, Vice President of Marketing at BroadSoft posted an interesting article titled "Is Video Calling Ready for Prime Time?" on the IP Business site.

Is video calling about to take off? Many of us who have been in the industry for a while, have seen repeated false predictions and product launches related to video calling. Scott argues that advances in related hardware, software, available bandwidth, reduced bandwidth requirements and rapidly decreasing costs have removed all of the tangible inhibitors to mass adoption.

I agree with that part of his assessment. However, I'm still not convinced that there is, or will be any time soon, a compelling market demand. On this point, Scott argues that video calling, like other technology trends, will first be adopted by tech-friendly users that will eventually lead to mass adoption.

It is true that many technologies are often first adopted by a particular demographic and later become mainstream. But when it comes to video calling, I wonder if there's some cultural or human behaviour element that will continue to thwart the acceptance of video calling. I don't quite know how to define the characteristic, but it seems that people feel somewhat awkward and uncomfortable when they are in front of a camera. For that reason, I am not expecting any dramatic change in video calling market penetration.

I strive to correctly perceive market and technology trends and I know how important it is to consider other's views. Therefore I welcome your opinion on this subject. Are the factors that Scott lists sufficient to help overcome whatever obstacles have prevented mass adoption to date?

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