Cisco Systems (CSCO)

Cisco will not be able to maintain the favorable pricing from its materials suppliers, causing the company’s gross margins to decline.

Cisco will face tough competition from niche competitors in the domestic markets that it has targeted for growth.

Customers might not be ready, in this economy, to change all what they already have, in order to concentrate everything in one integrated system, "putting all their eggs in the Cisco's basket". It could be interesting for new companies that have no data center yet, but the timing might be bad. In 2004, when the California project started, no one could expect the amplitude of the crisis we are going through now.

Catch the full article here: http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/13/cisco-data-center-technology-cio-network-cisco.html?partner=alerts

"CISCO Systems, the world's largest maker of networking equipment, may face a prolonged slide in sales as corporations cut back spending on new machinery in the global recession. Revenue this quarter will drop 15-20 per cent, the company forecasts. Sales fell 8 per cent to $US9.1 billion ($14 billion) in the previous period - the first decline in more than five years - and analysts do not expect an increase until 2010.

Sales dropped in January as the recession forced customers worldwide to slash their budgets.

Technology spending in developed countries is expected to fall 8 per cent in 2009, according to Goldman Sachs Group chief executive John Chambers."

http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,,25029119-24169,00.html?from=public_rss

Feeling the pain from a lagging economy, Cisco plans to implement a mandatory year-end shutdown (Dec. 29 to Jan. 2), the first such move in more than a decade, as part of its cost-savings plan.

Catch the full article here: http://www.thestreet.com/story/10450092/1/_msnh/cisco-plans-five-day-shutdown.html?cm_ven=MSNH&cm_cat=FREE&cm_ite=NA