Telecom Lead America: Cisco is planning to sell its Linksys home router unit.

The sale is part of Cisco’s strategy to shed its consumer unit and focus on its software and technology services businesses.

Last year, Cisco axed its Flip camera business as part of this strategy.

Cisco Systems has hired Barclays to sell its Linksys home router unit, according to Bloomberg.

Cisco acquired the Linksys business for $500 million in 2003.

Cisco recently launched a new version of its E4200 home wireless-n router. The new Linksys E4200 v2 Maximum Performance Dual-Band N900 wireless-n router provides wireless networking speeds up to
450 Mbps in the 2.4 GHz band and up to 450 Mbps in the 5.0 GHz band.

An increase in networked devices in the home such as tablets, set top boxes (STB), HDTVs, smartphones, and web-enabled media players, has generated interest in and need for capable home network delivery systems. The demand propelled non-Ethernet home networking node shipments past the 40 million units in 2010, according to In-Stat.

According to ABI Research, ZTE, Huawei, and TP-link grew aggressively in 2011, driven by growth in China, as well as growing presence in worldwide emerging broadband markets of the rest of Asia-Pacific, Latin America, and Eastern Europe.

Netgear and D-link continued to grow marginally through 2011, while Cisco and Technicolor lost to increasing competition worldwide, including in their North America and Western European strongholds
(respectively). These markets are turning into equipment replacement markets with mature broadband penetration.

Infonetics Research said global sales of home networking devices grew 20 percent in 2011 from 2010, to $7.98 billion. Infonetics expects a cumulative $43 billion to be spent on home networking devices over the 5 years from 2012 to 2016, as the growth of tablets and other devices in home networks necessitate additional connectivity options.

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