Belkin acquires Linksys

The network equipment market appears to be undergoing a major reorganization as news reports that Belkin will buy Linksys from Cisco.

Under the agreement, Belkin will acquire Cisco’s home networking business along with the Linksys brand. During the acquisition, the technologies and Linksys employees will also be transferred to Belkin. According to the press release, the Linksys brand will remain, and those who have bought a Linksys product should not be disappointed either, as support will also remain for older hardware. Following the acquisition, Belkin estimates that it will own about thirty percent of the home networking devices market in the United States. Belkin has not disclosed how much the Linksys deal will cost it, but it is almost certain that the acquisition is expected to take place in March 2013.