PC Gaming Brands and Manufacturers, Part 2 Codexery

Linksys

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The data networking hardware brand Linksys Holdings, Inc., which is British-American, primarily targets home users and small businesses with its products.[1] By 2020, Linksys had become the inaugural router manufacturer to reach a shipment milestone of 100 million units.[2]

Key facts and history

On June 4, 2021, Harry Dewhirst was appointed as CEO.[3] The company was launched as DEW International in 1988 by the married founders Janie and Victor Tsao, operating from their home garage in Irvine, California, before being renamed Linksys.[4] Early triumphs for the founders came from leveraging Taiwanese production capabilities; their initial offerings were printer sharers enabling multiple computers to use a single printer.[4] Annual revenue reached $6.5 million and the workforce numbered 55 by 1994.[4]

Fry's Electronics in 1995 and Best Buy in 1996 became the first U.S. retail partners for Linksys.[5] A multiport router that was both affordable and the first of its kind was introduced by Linksys in the late 1990s, which helped establish the brand in home networking.[5] Belkin's acquisition of Linksys and Cisco's home networking division was announced by Cisco in January 2013, a move that handed Belkin a 30% share of the home router market.[6] Foxconn purchased Belkin and its subsidiaries, which include Linksys, for $866 million in 2018.[7]

Fortinet became the sole owner of Linksys on January 31, 2025, after buying the remaining Series A Preferred Stock.[8]

What the cited sources add

A 2003 news article reported that Cisco announced a definitive agreement to acquire Linksys for $500 million in stock.[9] The same article noted that Linksys had more than 70 products and would be operated as an autonomous division of Cisco.[9] According to that article, Linksys owned 40% of the retail networking market at the time.[9] A 2021 article stated that Fortinet teamed up with Linksys to launch the HomeWRK, a two-node, mesh-enabled WiFi 6 router controlled via a mobile app.[10]

According to that article, the HomeWRK device creates distinct Wi-Fi networks for personal and work use, and it incorporates Fortinet's security stack.[10]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Score Another for Team Tsao", January 20, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Linksys and Qualcomm Launch the First 5G and Wi-Fi 6 Mobile Hotspot in Korea and Hong Kong", Bloomberg, October 30, 2020; https://www.linksys.com/pages/contact (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Linksys names Harry Dewhirst as chief executive officer"; "Linksys names Harry Dewhirst new CEO"; "Linksys names Harry Dewhirst as chief executive officer"; "Fortinet invests $75 million in Foxconn subsidiary Linksys", Tech Observer, March 31, 2021; "Linksys and Fortinet Announce Strategic Alliance to Deliver Enterprise-Grade Performance and Security for Work From Home Networks", March 22, 2021; "FIT Hon Teng : Nasdaq-listed Fortinet Eyes Bigger Stake in Foxconn's Linksys with $85 Million Deal", MarketScreener, August 3, 2021; "Linksys names n en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Entrepreneurs of the Year", Inc.com, January 2004 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "2014 CE Hall of Fame: Victor and Janie Tsao"; "Entrepreneurs of the Year", Inc.com, January 2004; "Cisco buys home networker Linksys", March 20, 2003; "Belkin Acquires Linksys From Cisco", Mashable, January 25, 2013 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Ngo, "Belkin completes acquisition of Linksys from Cisco", CNet; "Belkin buys Linksys home router business from Cisco, giving it 30 percent of the market", The Verge; "Cisco to sell Linksys to Belkin, will exit home networking market", January 24, 2013; "Linksys sheds merger blues: Irvine firm that once dominated router industry has returned to its roots after years under Cisco", July 18, 2015; "Foxconn buys Belkin, Linksys and Wemo for $866 million", ZDNet (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Jacob Kastrenakes, "Foxconn buys Belkin, Linksys, and Wemo", March 27, 2018; Lilly, "Linksys is changing hands again with Foxconn buying Belkin for $866 million", PC Gamer, March 28, 2018 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Linksys" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2025", Fortinet, Inc., June 30, 2025 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. "Cisco buys home networker Linksys", March 20, 2003. facts only, no text reused. networkworld.com
  10. Tobias Mann, "Fortinet, Linksys Extend Corporate Security to the Home", September 13, 2021. facts only, no text reused. sdxcentral.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Linksys (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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