Craig Matsumoto, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

May 9, 2008

1 Min Read
Cisco, Ericsson & ATCA

12:30 PM -- SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Someone from Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) attended Light Reading's ATCA, AMC & MicroTCA event yesterday, and I've been told Cisco was among the spectators at the ATCA Summit last fall.

That was interesting, but Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) might be the bigger fish, says Simon Stanley, our analyst who hangs around with Heavy Reading and Light Reading's Components Insider. Cisco, to my knowledge, hasn't openly declared itself against ATCA, while Ericsson has said it's sticking to a proprietary architecture -- although it's reportedly interested in adding advanced mezzanine cards (AMC; a related standard) to the mix.

In other words, it's no surprise Cisco would be curious. Ericsson nosing around ATCA -- that'd be news. I should check the attendance roster and see if they sneaked in.

Now, ATCA already has Alcatel-Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. , NEC Corp. (Tokyo: 6701), Nokia Networks , and Nortel Networks Ltd. on its side. Cisco or Ericsson wouldn't seem like make-or-break propositions.

Then again -- what if they take a liking to non-ATCA alternatives from HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) and IBM Corp. (NYSE: IBM)? (See HP Ditches ATCA.) That's particularly relevant to Cisco because it's so ensconced in the data center, the market where HP and IBM excel. Maybe ATCA vendors aiming for Cisco aren't wasting their effort, even if it turns out they're just playing defense.

Cisco wasn't the only sighting at our event. Did anyone else realize Hyperchip Inc. is still alive?

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading

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About the Author(s)

Craig Matsumoto

Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

Yes, THAT Craig Matsumoto – who used to be at Light Reading from 2002 until 2013 and then went away and did other stuff and now HE'S BACK! As Editor-in-Chief. Go Craig!!

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