It will continue to support the sharing of Flip videos online. That could be the reason Cisco appears to see no point in selling the business - the announcement Tuesday said Flip will be closed down. Dedicated video cameras are small potatoes compared to digital still cameras and smart phones, both of which now shoot video. But that only amounted to 2.5 million units sold. Last year, the Flip Video was still the top-selling video camera in the U.S., with 26 per cent of the market, according to IDC analyst Chris Chute.

The camera even contained video-editing software that fired up on the computer. A signature feature, since copied by many other manufacturers, was a USB connector that flipped out of the case, letting the user connect the camera directly to a computer. The Flip Video quickly became a top seller because it was easy to use. It also expects to take restructuring charges of no more than $300 million spread out over the current quarter, which ends April 25, and the following one.Ĭisco bought Pure Digital Technologies Inc., the maker of the Flip Video camcorder, for $590 million in 2009, just two years after the San Francisco-based company made its first camera. The San Jose, Calif., company said Tuesday that it expects its consumer business shakeup will result in the loss of 550 jobs, or less than one per cent of its workforce of about 73,000.Ī company spokeswoman in Canada said that Cisco was not breaking out the number of layoffs in each country and declined to specify whether any Canadian employees would be affected. Analysts say the company has been trying to do too many different things.

The about-face comes after several quarters of disappointing results and challenges in its core businesses. Cisco Systems Inc., the world's largest maker of computer networking gear, is killing its Flip Video camcorder business as part of a reversal of years of efforts at diversifying into consumer products.

Cisco flip video camera