Electronics News
- Haier, Cisco to cooperate in home networking
Date: 27-Sep-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
CISCO Systems Inc., the world's biggest network equipment maker, will cooperate with Haier Group in home networking as companies race to cash in on the Internet's growing popularity as an entertainment channel.
The deal with Haier, China's largest appliance manufacturer, comes after Microsoft Corp. announced a partnership in June with domestic television maker Changhong Electric Co. to develop digital entertainment products.
Cisco and Haier will share expertise in management and constructing home networking systems, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. Representatives for the companies declined to give details of how the cooperation would work or what products might be developed.
Cisco, based in San Jose, California, will share experience in using network technologies to improve competitiveness, Thomas Lam, the president of Cisco China, said in the statement.
'At the same time, we will deepen our commitment to the market for home and individual users, to provide personalized and innovative networking experiences for consumers,'Lam said.
Haier said it hoped the collaboration would help the company build its brand name abroad.
The Internet is emerging as a key channel for piping movies and other programming into homes. Sony Corp., Apple Inc. and other companies have announced plans for devices to allow programs downloaded from the Web to be viewed on high-definition TV sets, rather than on computers.
China offers unusual opportunities for technology companies as a major television and Internet market and a leading producer of consumer electronics.
China has the world's biggest TV audience at 400 million viewers and the second-largest population of Internet users after the United States, with 137 million people online.
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