Cisco: Home devices will end up in businesses

Cisco will fold its acquisitions such as Linksys into its own brand, according to the company's chief executive.

John Chambers told European press earlier this week that he did not see Cisco's products in the consumer and enterprise sectors as "separate markets".

"I would never have entered the consumer market if I thought it was standalone or a market by itself. We believe the devices you use in the home will go into your business as well," said Chambers. "It goes back to any device, at any time, off any combination of networks being our strategy."

Referring to the company's Linksys brand — it bought the home-networking business in 2003 — Chambers said: "It will all come over time into a Cisco brand. The reason we kept Linksys's brand is because it was better known in the US than even Cisco was for the consumer. As you go globally, there's very little advantage in that."

A spokesperson for Cisco told ZDNet.co.uk on Friday that Chambers had given no definite timescale for a name change, but suggested that his comments did indicate a possible future rebranding of recent acquisitions WebEx and Scientific Atlanta.