Quick Take: Cisco on the Warpath
By Rich Smith
December 5, 2007
This just in from the world of high-tech people-poaching. Yesterday evening, Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO) announced that it had hired away Motorola (NYSE: MOT) Chief Technology Officer Padmasree Warrior to become its own CTO.
I admit, the main reason I'm writing about this is because "Padmasree Warrior" has to be the coolest name ever. It only gets cooler when you look it up online, and discover that "Padmashri" means "Divine Lotus" in Hindi. (Can you tell I've got a baby on the way?)
From an investing perspective, though, the news inspires two other thoughts: First, this poach looks to me like fallout from Motorola's recent decision to give CEO Ed Zander the boot. (Even before the merger, though, AMD (NYSE: AMD) had started picking Motorola's pockets.) It's hard to shake up the top corporate office without unintended parts coming loose.
Second, Cisco's recent acquisition, Scientific-Atlanta, has historically competed with Motorola in the market for digital video recorders. So here we have the top tech warrior in that battle switching sides, and joining Cisco's camp. Bad news for Motorola. Great news for Cisco.
For more on Motorola, Cisco, and everything DVR, read:
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