May 8th, 2007
Cisco CEO: Web 2.0 will drive the industry
Cisco CEO John Chambers sees Web 2.0 as his company's rocket fuel for the next decade.
On a conference call with analysts following the company's fiscal third quarter earnings it was telling how much Chambers dwelled on Web 2.0–a term many of us are weary of already.
Chambers defined Web 2.0 as technologies that enable communication and collaboration–think WebEx, online video and telepresence. It just so happens that Cisco makes all the gear that will provide the bandwidth for those applications. "I don't think we are being over enthusiastic when we say this will drive the industry for the next decade," said Chambers.
The gist of Chambers' comments was the following:
- Video is driving network demand;
- Broadband providers are building out networks;
- Cisco is grabbing an increasing amount of technology spending across all of its businesses;
- And the company has a broad portfolio with 14 product lines operating on a $1 billion to $4 billion revenue run rate.
Chambers added that "business is strong." "This model appears to have legs for the next decade," said Chambers. It's hard to argue with that assessment given Cisco's results.
The company, which even has a Web 2.0-ish tagline noting that Cisco transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate, reported net income of $1.9 billion, or 30 cents a share, on revenue of $8.9 billion. Excluding charges, Cisco had earnings of 34 cents a share, a penny ahead of Thomson Financial estimates.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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