US Cable Support > Comcast Cable TV > [STB] Cisco thinking of getting out of the set-top box business?

reply to telcodad

Re: [STB] Cisco thinking of getting out of the set-top box busin

According to an article today on the Light Reading Cable site, it looks like Google may put Motorola Mobility's cable unit up for sale as early as this fall now:

Google Preps Sale of Motorola Home
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - August 6, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/document.as···lr_cable

Well, from this article on the Light Reading Cable site today, wherever Motorola Mobility's cable unit finally ends up, at least it looks like they intend to continue to do business with Comcast:

Motorola Still Tight With Comcast
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - August 22, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/document.as···lr_cable

EDIT: Link to the press release: »www.prnewswire.com/news-releases···825.html

EDIT2: The story on CED Magazine's site: »www.cedmagazine.com/news/2012/08···motorola

From this article on the CED Magazine site today, it certainly does look like Cisco intends to continue to do STB business in the future with Comcast:

Cisco signs on for Comcast RDK
By Mike Robuck, CED Magazine - October 5, 2012
»www.cedmagazine.com/news/2012/10···cast-rdk

An article on the Light Reading Cable site today about all the STB vendors that have now licensed Comcast's Reference Design Kit (RDK):

Cisco, Humax & Technicolor Join Comcast's Crew
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - October 10, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/document.as···lr_cable

Well, I thought this was strange, as Pace has already provided some of the main X1 platform boxes to Comcast, as the article says: "Comcast said Pace was instrumental in developing the RDK by helping the service provider launch its XG1 multi-tuner video gateway in support of the X1 service."

However, I guess there are a few more specs in the RDK that Pace may have to formally obtain a license for.

Pace licenses RDK set-top design kit from Comcast
By Dan O'Shea, FierceCable - October 17, 2012
»www.fiercecable.com/story/pace-l···12-10-17

OK, now Intel has officially joined the Comcast RDK club:

Intel Licenses Reference Design Kit from Comcast to Speed Development and Deployment of Set-Top Box Solutions
First Silicon Deployment Uses Intel Puma and Intel Atom Processor CE4200
Intel Press Release - October 24, 2012
»newsroom.intel.com/community/int···olutions

reply to telcodad
On the Light Reading Cable site yesterday:

Could An Arris-Motorola Marriage Work?
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - November 8, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/blog.asp?bl···lr_cable

A report this morning that Google has set a deadline of today to secure bids for Motorola Mobility's Home unit, with ARRIS, Pace and Technicolor expected to be some of the bidders:

Google Sets Deadline for Motorola Home Bids
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - December 7, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/document.as···lr_cable

The TiVo factor
One big question heading into this part of the process is the overhang created by TiVo's pending patent litigation with Motorola, which is taking place in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas Texarkana Division.

On Wednesday, the judge in the case, Rodney Gilstrap, issued the claim construction brief, a critical step in which the court interprets the language of TiVo's intellectual property, including TiVo's key Multimedia Time Warping System patent. After that, the parties can either settle or prepare for a court clash that's anticipated to get underway in May 2013.

That overhang is significant because TiVo has been successful in winning court battles or scoring lucrative settlements. It's not yet known how or if Google will factor the pending litigation with TiVo into the terms of a Motorola asset sale, or if it intends to settle the TiVo issue before moving the sales process to its final phases.

If Google doesn't find a buyer for Motorola Mobility's Home unit before the end of this year, they may then consider breaking up the Home unit and selling it off in piece-part fashion:

Does Google Have a Plan B?
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - December 7, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/blog.asp?bl···lr_cable

Could Cisco buy motorola? What would be the best buyer for the motorola cable business? I would like a service to compete with dish hopper and directv genie service.

Could one company buy both cisco and motorola's cable units?

Is there any chance of a service like genie or hopper coming to cable?

reply to telcodad
A sale to ARRIS is now looking more likely:

Google Said to Get Best Bids for Unit from Pace, Arris
By Serena Saitto & Brian Womack, Bloomberg - December 10, 2012
»www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-0···ris.html

and given this reader comment to the LRC article (»www.lightreading.com/blog.asp?bl···46&#msgs ):

Re: While we're speculating...
By sbiller1
Monday December 10, 2012 6:18:12 AM

Now that we've heard from Bloomberg that the two leading bids are from Pace and Arris, I think the answer to your question about Google indemnifying any potential acquirer to the litigation risk associated with the TiVo suit seems plausible. Pace has a market cap of close to $500 million making it a stretch for me to see how they can swallow the Moto business without significant financing from Google. Arris' 1.6 billion market cap seems more in-line with the numbers being reported. An interesting side-effect of the Pace rumor is they already have a deal with TiVo. Perhaps the deal already includes a baked-in settlement (credit?) with TiVo for past infringement, etc.

An article on the Light Reading Cable site this afternoon with more info on the bids:

Pace Bids For Motorola Home
By Jeff Baumgartner, Light Reading Cable - December 10, 2012
»www.lightreading.com/document.as···lr_cable

Also on the Multichannel News site: »www.multichannel.com/technology/···t/140651

Pace says it wants Motorola
Set-top box maker confirms it offered 'indicative, non-binding bid' to Google
By Jim Barthold, FierceIPTV - December 11, 2012
»www.fierceiptv.com/story/pace-sa···12-12-11

reply to telcodad
Well, this could be a first step in Cisco selling off its set-top unit:

Cisco Said to Hire Barclays to Sell Linksys Division
By Serena Saitto & Jordan Robertson, Bloomberg - December 16, 2012
»www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-1···ion.html

From the article:

Cisco wants to sell Linksys as part of its strategy to exit consumer businesses while expanding in corporate software and technology services. Chief Executive Officer John Chambers eliminated 7,800 jobs over the past year and closed businesses such as the Flip video-camera unit amid a slowdown in sales growth after a foray into consumer technologies backfired.

In addition to Linksys, Cisco also operates in the home market with its Scientific Atlanta set-top-box unit and with NDS Group Ltd., a software maker for paid-television channels used by British Sky Broadcasting Group, Canal Plus and DirecTV. Cisco bought NDS in July for $5 billion.

why would they sell the highly successful cisco router business?