Advanced Television

Cisco’s Chambers: ‘No lover of STBs’

February 20, 2015

By Colin Mann

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems, speaks during a news conference at at the 2010 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las VegasJohn Chambers, Chairman and CEO of Cisco Systems, has suggested that over time, the company will be an “aggressive” buyer of software companies, particularly in areas such as cloud services and security, but has ruled out selling its set-top box business.

In August 2013, Chambers suggested that the company’s set-top box business had adversely affected its profitability and that transitioning customers to cloud-based technology would address the problem.

Chambers made his comments in an interview with Bloomberg News in which he ruled out selling off less profitable units to lift shareholder returns, including the company’s server business and set-top box division. He said the server business was strategically important for customers that wanted to rely on Cisco for data centre infrastructure.

“Am I in love with set-top boxes? Of course not,” he said, suggesting that he hasn’t considered divesting the business because large carriers such as AT&T and Comcast still require set-top boxes for their pay-TV operations.

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