Cisco Appears to be Company in Transition - Sponsored Whitepaper

Cisco achieved 6% year-to-year growth in 4Q10, which was slightly higher than its 3Q10 guidance of 3% to 5% but well short of the company’s long-term goal of 12% to 17% annual growth. As expected, the company continued to see challenges in its public sector, service provider set-top, and consumer businesses. While public sector orders actually increased year-to-year, the company is bracing itself for tougher times ahead as governments around the world keep a tight rein on spending.
Cisco believes its 2011 fiscal year revenue will grow somewhere in the 9% to 10% range, which raises the question as to whether the company’s growth prospects are as bright as they were a few quarters ago. While TBR believes Cisco’s overall strategy is solid, the company may simply be too large and dispersed to achieve growth rates comparable to smaller and more-focused competitors.