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In 2007, a small San Francisco company that made disposable cameras for drugstores released a plastic camcorder with one red button and a USB arm that flipped out of the side. Within two years, the Flip Video had taken roughly a third of the entire United States camcorder market from Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC. In March 2009, Cisco bought it for about $590 million in stock. Twenty five months later, Cisco did not sell the brand, did not license it and did not spin it off. It shut the whole business down, cut around 550 jobs, and absorbed restructuring charges reported at up to $300 million before tax.
This is the full story of how the best selling video camera in America was built, why every feature it left out was the reason people loved it, how the iPhone 3GS quietly ended it three months after the acquisition was announced, and why a Wi-Fi Flip that was weeks from launch was cancelled and never shipped. It is also the story of a memo John Chambers wrote on April 4, 2011, admitting Cisco had lost its focus, and the announcement that followed eight days later.
If you owned one, coached with one, filmed a wedding or a graduation or a dog with one, this is where it went.
Sources and further reading:
https://newsroom.cisco.com https://blogs.cisco.com https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/technology/13cisco.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_Video https://www.npd.com
Cisco Systems annual reports and investor communications, fiscal years 2009 through 2011 The Wall Street Journal, coverage of the Pure Digital acquisition and the 2011 consumer restructuring Wired, reporting on the shutdown of the Flip camcorder business Ars Technica, coverage of Cisco's April 2011 job cuts and product cancellations CNET and Fortune interviews with Jonathan Kaplan on the origins of Pure Digital Technologies
This channel is made by an enthusiast who loves business and technology history — nothing more. All videos are for educational and entertainment purposes only and reflect my personal views and interpretations. I research each story carefully using publicly available sources, but errors or omissions can happen. Nothing here is professional, financial, or legal advice, and this channel is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any company mentioned.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb0ps9eCp0y6yP1Xg4sDDFw?sub_confirmation=1
In 2007, a small San Francisco company that made disposable cameras for drugstores released a plastic camcorder with one red button and a USB arm that flipped out of the side. Within two years, the Flip Video had taken roughly a third of the entire United States camcorder market from Sony, Canon, Panasonic and JVC. In March 2009, Cisco bought it for about $590 million in stock. Twenty five months later, Cisco did not sell the brand, did not license it and did not spin it off. It shut the whole business down, cut around 550 jobs, and absorbed restructuring charges reported at up to $300 million before tax.
This is the full story of how the best selling video camera in America was built, why every feature it left out was the reason people loved it, how the iPhone 3GS quietly ended it three months after the acquisition was announced, and why a Wi-Fi Flip that was weeks from launch was cancelled and never shipped. It is also the story of a memo John Chambers wrote on April 4, 2011, admitting Cisco had lost its focus, and the announcement that followed eight days later.
If you owned one, coached with one, filmed a wedding or a graduation or a dog with one, this is where it went.
Sources and further reading:
https://newsroom.cisco.com https://blogs.cisco.com https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/13/technology/13cisco.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip_Video https://www.npd.com
Cisco Systems annual reports and investor communications, fiscal years 2009 through 2011 The Wall Street Journal, coverage of the Pure Digital acquisition and the 2011 consumer restructuring Wired, reporting on the shutdown of the Flip camcorder business Ars Technica, coverage of Cisco's April 2011 job cuts and product cancellations CNET and Fortune interviews with Jonathan Kaplan on the origins of Pure Digital Technologies
This channel is made by an enthusiast who loves business and technology history — nothing more. All videos are for educational and entertainment purposes only and reflect my personal views and interpretations. I research each story carefully using publicly available sources, but errors or omissions can happen. Nothing here is professional, financial, or legal advice, and this channel is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any company mentioned.
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