Maxtor and Linksys Announce Co-Marketing Agreement
Reprinted from a Maxtor press release:
Maxtor Corporation (NYSE: MXO), a worldwide leader in hard disk drives and consumer storage products, and Linksys, a division of Cisco Systems, Inc., and a leader in home and small business networking solutions, today announced that the companies will collaborate on product and technology development and will co-market solutions that make storing, managing, sharing and streaming personal and entertainment content in the home simple for consumers. As leaders in personal storage and home networking, Maxtor and Linksys share a vision of a versatile, content-rich network with easy access to shared data.
Maxtor and Linksys will also begin to promote each other’s products - the Maxtor OneTouch external hard drive and the recently announced Linksys Network Storage Link (NSLU2). With the Storage Link on a wired or wireless home network, the Maxtor OneTouch drive can serve as a central storage location for everyone on the network to share, store and access their data and digital content such as photos, music and other media. The Maxtor OneTouch drive connects to the Linksys Network Storage Link via one of the two USB ports, and the Storage Link connects to a router, enabling network connectivity to other devices around the home or office. For a limited time, U.S. residents who purchase a Maxtor OneTouch USB drive with the Linksys Network Storage Link will receive a special mail-in rebate. For details and terms on the promotion, visit www.Linksys.com/HDD.
According to In-Stat/MDR, 2004 is the year for strong growth in home networking. Entertainment network connections are expected to double from 2003 to 2004, and to reach 51 million by 2005. “The initiative between Maxtor and Linksys brings together two companies with strong pedigrees in bringing value to consumers, and is a testament to the rapidly growing end-user demand for whole home entertainment distribution and storage,” noted Mike Wolf, principal analyst at In-Stat/MDR.
“Linksys is the leader in the home networking market and we’re excited about the opportunities this relationship provides,” said Mike Cordano, executive vice president of worldwide sales and marketing at Maxtor. “Home networks, coupled with the explosion of digital content, create exciting new opportunities for storage. Maxtor continues to drive innovative personal storage solutions to enhance consumers’ ability to create, share and enjoy personal and entertainment content in their homes. With our combined market strength and innovative technologies, we expect to provide simple and elegant solutions to consumers today and in the future.”
“Teaming with Maxtor allows us to reach each other’s respective customer base for education and marketing purposes,” said Steve Troyer, director of product marketing at Linksys. “The Maxtor OneTouch USB family of drives, together with our Storage Link, enhances the home network by enabling all the users to affordably expand their storage capacity and share their content. Together we aim to promote easy to use and affordable networked storage.”
More information about Maxtor OneTouch drives can be found at www.maxtor.com. The Linksys Network Storage Link can be found at www.linksys.com.