“You bought the iPhone? Which one?”- Apple & Cisco Kiss and Make Up

News of Apple’s iPhone leaked months ago. Steve Jobs, with his typical anti-establishment maneuvers, drew the limelight from the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) by holding the MacWorld expo in the middle of CES. And the wrench that got thrown into Apple’s plan- Cisco systems, in Q3 2006, announced their plans to release their own iPhone, patented a few years ago.

Apple’s run into problems just like this before with Apple Corps, the Beatles record company. Jobs and Apple can’t help it, branding is what drives their business. From the all white, sleek electronics, to the iEverything that is in their product line, to the cute little Apple logo and white earbuds shamelessly sported by iPod generation everywhere you go, Apple relies on their creative branding to keep up in a world dominated by Bill Gates.

Cisco, who had slowly been creeping away from the forefront of the tech industry, felt that this was their time to grab some of world’s stage and reassert their tech prowess. And so the negotiations began, and a deadline was set. Then it was delayed. Then it was delayed again. Apple lunges, Cisco perries, and vice versa. Now, it seems, a resolution has been reached.

Cisco claims no financial interest in the resolution, only hopes for a future in which Cisco Systems could work with the notoriously closed Apple. This being said, its estimated that between $25 million and $50 million passed hands from Apple to Cisco. This deal is like allowing the bully to steal your lunch money, and hoping to work with him in the future. Apple pulled a Microsoft and pushed around Cisco. While $50 million would put a smile on my face, the iPhone has the opportunity to do to the mobile world what the iPod did to the mp3 world, and $50 million is nothing in that picture.

Cisco took care of dinner for tomorrow night with the deal. Heck, they took care of dinner for a while, but they gave up their bargaining chip and now they have to live with the decision they made. The iPhone could, very unlikely, bomb and Cisco made the right decision. Then again, the iPhone could take the market by storm and Cisco could be left with the scraps of Apple’s dinner. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.