Cisco expects the sluggish spending environment to continue throughout the year, according to Reuters. In an interview, Cisco CEO John Chambers says the tempered purchasing environment could last until 2009. Many investment firms shared Chambers' bearishness and took it out on the company's stock -- some don't expect Cisco's fourth quarter, ending later this month, to grow much-- if at all -- from Q3.

"Given the sluggish enterprise booking trends, and a tough macro environment, we would not be surprised to see Cisco guide flat to down sequentially for 4Q08 given historical seasonality in challenging times," wrote Nikos Theodosopoulos of UBS Warburg.

The Reuters interview also provided Chambers' outlook on the Cisco CEO office in five years -- perhaps an indication that Chambers plans to step aside within that timeframe. He envisions top management by council, something Cisco's already implementing in its product development direction and in other areas of company operations.

"In terms of how we evolve our entire leadership team, including the office of the CEO, it's very likely to be different five years from now than it was five years ago," Chambers told Reuters. "There will probably be a title of CEO, but the next CEO will probably be more a leader of a council than a 'command and control'."  

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