Cisco Kills Flip Camcorder Line, 550 Jobs to Be Eliminated

Flip! Dead! The company that made portable camcorders cool—and managed to command almost double the price of competing models somehow—was purchased by networking giant Cisco a couple years ago.

And we all thought, “Oh boy, they’re certainly going to make a Wi-Fi-enabled Flip camera that streams video and/or uploads it directly to the web.”

Cisco even promised one!

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Cisco has just confirmed to Pocket-lint that it’s killing off the Flip brand and “ceasing production of all models.”

Says Cisco CEO John Chambers:

“We are making key, targeted moves as we align operations in support of our network-centric platform strategy. As we move forward, our consumer efforts will focus on how we help our enterprise and service provider customers optimize and expand their offerings for consumers, and help ensure the network’s ability to deliver on those offerings.”

The company wouldn’t say if sales had slumped, but suggested the camcorders “are fast losing out to mobile phones with 720p video recording capability,” according to Pocket-lint.

Cisco will apparently be cutting some 550 jobs as a result of this move as well, reports TechCrunch.

More on TIME.com:

Flip SlideHD Review: When Good Enough Isn’t Good Enough

Cisco Promises Wi-Fi-enabled Flip

Cisco Goes Consumer, Announces ūmi Video Conferencing

gminnj

This is a real bummer to me, as I thought it fit a need. While my wife and I have smartphones that do video, we have a Flip (and a child), and it gets a lot of use.

The ease of taping/downloading/uploading, plus the ‘fun’ factor, all added up to a good product. I was looking forward to more from them.
http://xriva.wordpress.com Kevin John Gilhooly

I still use my Flips even though I have a videophone, especially on trips – if I’m traveling internationally, my phone won’t work (don’t have a plan), so why not leave it home (then it’s a vacation!) and use a Flip?
http://popularopinions.wordpress.com Chaz

Yeah, I’m actually saddened by this as well. My Flip Camera that I’ve had since December 2007 really helped me capture a lot of footage I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to get. I never had a single technical problem with it either. A quality product. RIP.
pks29733steel

Hopefully the 500 jobs lost will be in China or Japan. Microsoft, Now is the time to create a camcorder. Make it smaller, take spare batteries, wi-fi and make it here in the U.S.A.!
http://modernwatercooler.wordpress.com jxgalt

I can’t make sense of this. Their user base is growing and filled with people who love the product.

Why didn’t they sell the product line/technology to a consumer electronics or camera company? Or a consumer products-oriented private equity firm? Not only would it be a better financial outcome, but it would allow them to save some face, instead of throwing away what they bought just 2 years ago for $590 MILLION. http://www.modernwatercooler.blogspot.com/
http://wolfishaura.wordpress.com WolfishAura

For some reason – the statment from Cisco to me sounded like a whole load of crap. Like they just didn’t wanna tell the world why they were laying off 500+ people so made a whole load of bs up.
http://breamrockmetteller.wordpress.com Bream Rockmetteller

All that corporate babble! Maybe they just thought that iPhone video would drive their market to zero? Maybe they have some secret info about an upcoming product? I really enjoy my MinoHD right along side the iPhone and the Canon SD780. I’m almost tempted to go and get an UltraHD before they disappear altogether. I never could figure out those bean-counter types…
beckie66

What a bummer! We have a Flip. My 6yr old son has been making videos with it since he was 3 – it is that easy to use. My phone doesn’t even have video capability.