Cisco kills Umi consumer video conferencing system... again

Cisco’s home video conferencing solution Umi never found much success, and now Business Insider reports that the company is calling off sales altogether. Originally unveiled in October of 2010, Umi no doubt struggled due to its price — $599 for the high-end hardware, with a $9.95 monthly subscription fee — and because of competition from computer-based alternatives. This past April Cisco announced it would be integrating Umi into the company’s Business TelePresence line-up, seemingly signaling the end, but it continued to sell the device through retail partners like Best Buy. Now that appears to be over, though the service itself will continue to work for current owners.

It’s yet another consumer electronics failure for Cisco, who famously bought Flip video camera creator Pure Digital Technologies in 2009 only to kill off the line of portable shooters last year. Umi’s demise may be a sign that the company is refocusing its efforts on the enterprise, where it has traditionally excelled — but then again, it is working on some new Linksys routers it wants to sell you.