Ongoing shipments of Cisco's Catalyst 6500 switch are said to be threatened by ASIC "issues," according to a bulletin distributed by investment firm Rodman & Renshaw, LLC. The firm characterized the reports of the ASIC issue as a rumor.
Cisco is likely to address these issues within three months, which Rodman & Renshaw says is the typical turnaround time for silicon fabrication - or refabrication. The result is that some Catalyst 6K shipments will slip out by a quarter and "a few will be lost as companies reassign budgets," the firm says.
The switch uses merchant silicon for physical layer and ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) applications, according to the bulletin. NetLogic is a "key" supplier for each of these products, Rodman & Renshaw reports - Cisco and the Cat 6K are the component manfacturer's largest customer for physical layer products and also a large customer for TCAMs.
As a result, NetLogics' quarterly revenue could be impacted to the tune of $3 million to $8 million, or 3% to 9% of its quarterly revenue, if shipments of the Cat 6K are held up, Rodman & Renshaw speculates. But:
If Cisco can resolve the ASIC issue with a simple metal fix, then it should be able to maintain shipment with an impact of only 3-4 weeks. In that case, NetLogic should be able to mask the impact on its revenue.
Cisco declined comment but added that it has announced no new changes in product availability. Cisco said during its most recent earnings call that product lead times are improving after experiencing delays of several months in recent quarters.
NetLogic did not respond to a request for comment by posting time.
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