Apple Settles With Cisco
Feb 22nd 2007Nik AgarwalBusiness/Finance
After a trivial feud, both Apple and Cisco have settled their dispute over the trademarked name, “iPhone.” The agreement allows both companies free use of the trademarked name and dismissal of all lawsuits pertaining to “iPhone” initiated by either side. More detailed terms of the agreement remain confidential.
Analysts are expecting that this agreement will allow both companies to offer multimedia content to customers in a more efficient manner. The benefit to Cisco is obviously some financial gains as well as interoperability with Apple to develop and release products. Cisco is the undisputed leader in networking and Apple, arguably, is the leader in defining momentous user experiences. Combined, both companies will be able to enjoy significant growth as well as brand awareness.
Zeus Kerravala, a network infrastructure analyst with Yankee Group, said there are ample opportunities for the companies to dream up collaborative projects to win over consumers.
One possibility, he said, could be a device from Cisco’s Linksys division that users call into to record podcasts that are then automatically uploaded to iTunes. Such a product would make it easier to create and disseminate such programs.
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Gary on 23 Feb 2007 at 7:24 pm #
Personally, I think that Apple’s branding capabilities are going to squash anything Cisco decides to bring out, so i guess Cisco got a few million out of this from an under the table kind of deal.
Nik Agarwal on 23 Feb 2007 at 10:47 pm #
I agree that this deal is mostly designed to benefit Apple in the end. It is possible that Apple might use Cisco technologies to supplement their iPhone or other future products, but Apple will still reap the majority of all benefits.