If one is to believe the New York Post, Cisco wants to sell its Scientific-Atlanta cable STB business, as it is moving the video business entirely towards cloud-based Videoscape technology.
The likely buyers? Private equity firms looking for a low-cust purchase, a NY Post suggests.
Cisco bought S-A back in 2006 for nearly $7 billion-- but NY Post sources claim S-A is currently going "under pressure" following the Q4 2011 earnings report. The company did recently sell a key manufacturing facility in Juarez, Mexico to one of its contract manufacturers.
In reaction to the NY Post, the company denies all rumours in a blog post titled "Cisco Committed to Set Top Boxes." Quoting CEO John Chambers, the blog says "in terms of set top boxes, we [Cisco] are very much committed to this marketplace." However Chambers also points towards plans involving moving from IP-based STBs to the cloud (if not hybrid solutions).
The STB market has gone through a lot of changes recently-- from long-time Cisco competitor Motorola Solutions getting bought by Google to the rise of video-on-demand solutions of the Netflix kind. Over here Cisco supplies the Virgin Media TiVo box and has an exclusive arrangement with ONO in Spain.