Microsoft says bye-bye to Wi-Fi
Despite quickly becoming one of the leading sellers of wireless networking products, Microsoft has decided to discontinue its entire line of Wi-Fi gear, CNET News.com has learned.
A source close to the company said Microsoft entered the Wi-Fi field with hopes of "raising the bar" on security, ease-of-use and performance and now feels it has accomplished those goals.
Microsoft confirmed the move late Monday.
"After careful evaluation, the Microsoft hardware group has decided to scale back its broadband hardware and networking business," a representative said. "Instead, the plan is to apply the knowledge we have gained in that category to future products and services."
The move is a dramatic turnaround, considering the company just introduced a USB version of its 802.11g product in February and has
only been in the market since September 2002. The company had quickly gained market share in the wireless networking market but lost some ground when it was slower than rivals in introducing 802.11g products.
