Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) is trying to sell the set-top box business it acquired in 2006 as part of its US$7 billion acquisition of Scientific-Atlanta, according to a report in the New York Post. (See Cisco Completes SA Buy and Cisco to Acquire Scientific-Atlanta.)

An industry source contacted by Light Reading Cable confirmed that, to his knowledge, Cisco has been in touch with potential buyers. "I understand they are shopping it selectively," he stated.

The speculation comes only weeks after Cisco CEO John Chambers said during the company's fiscal second-quarter earnings conference call that "we are very much committed to this marketplace [set-top boxes]." (See Cisco Earnings Shine in Q2.)

But as Cisco looks to tighten its fiscal belt and promote aggressively its Videoscape architecture, which is designed for the delivery of all manner of video traffic to any end device via a cloud services framework, so its need to own a set-top box business diminishes. (See Cisco's Videoscape Stresses Cloud Control, Cisco Simplifies; Cuts 6,500 Jobs, Did Cisco Cut Deep Enough? and CES: Cisco Unveils Master Plan for Video.)

Cisco has already sent clear signals about its home entertainment device strategy by selling its set-top box manufacturing plant in Mexico and discussing in public how it expects the traditional set-top box to gradually disappear. (See Foxconn Buys Cisco's Set-Top Factory and Cisco: Set-Tops Are Going Away.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International Managing Editor, Light Reading