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Linksys is an American company selling data networking hardware products mainly to home users and small businesses. Its products include wired and wireless routers, Ethernet switches, VoIP equipment, wireless internet video cameras, audio visual products and network storage systems. The Linksys company was founded in 1988. It is currently owned by Belkin, who bought it from Cisco, its owners from March 2003 to March 2013.〔(Cisco acquires Linksys for 500M ), Clint Boulton, March 20, 2003〕 Its products were branded as Linksys by Cisco when it was part of Cisco. Linksys products are sold to consumers off-the-shelf from consumer electronics stores, internet retailers, and big-box retail stores such as supermarkets. Significant competitors in the home and small business networking market segment include D-Link, TP-Link and Netgear. Belkin has kept the Linksys brand and released new products under its name since acquiring it.〔(Belkin Completes Acquisition of Linksys )〕 == History == Linksys was founded in 1988 in a garage in Irvine, California. The founders, Janie and Victor Tsao (who received a master's degree in computer science from Illinois Institute of Technology in 1980), were immigrants from Taiwan who held second jobs as consultants specializing in pairing American technology vendors with manufacturers in Taiwan. The company's first products were printer sharers that connected multiple PCs to printers. From this it expanded into Ethernet hubs, network cards, and cords. By 1994, it had grown to 55 employees with annual revenues of $6.5 million.〔 The company received a major boost in 1995, when Microsoft released Windows 95 with built-in networking functions that expanded the market for its products. Linksys established its first U.S. retail channels with Fry's Electronics (1995) and Best Buy (1996).〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=About Us )〕 In 1999, the company announced the first Fast Ethernet PCMCIA Card for notebook PCs. In 2000, it introduced the first 8-port router with SNMP and QoS, and in 2001 it shipped its millionth cable/DSL router.〔 By 2003, when the company was acquired by Cisco, it had 305 employees and revenues of more than $500 million.〔 That was also the sum paid by Cisco for the company.〔http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2013/01/cisco-to-sell-linksys-to-belkin-will-exit-home-networking-market/〕 Cisco expanded the company's product line, acquiring VoIP maker Sipura Technology in 2005 and selling its products under Linksys Voice System or later Linksys Business Series brands.) In July 2008, Cisco acquired Seattle-based Pure Networks, a vendor of home networking-management software. Pure Networks had previously provided the tools and software infrastructure used to create the Linksys Easy Link Advisor. Cisco announced in January 2013 that it would sell its home networking division and Linksys to Belkin, giving Belkin 30% of the home router market. Belkin pledged to continue support and honor warranties for existing Linksys products. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Linksys」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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