* Cisco’s latest results show a growth in high capacity IP communications
While earnings announcements don’t normally make it into our newsletter, we think Cisco’s recent financial results are noteworthy. First, Cisco announced a 24.94% growth in year-over-year revenue. The growth came from multiple sectors, including about 20% growth from the corporate IT enterprise sector, with additional balanced growth in the service provider, commercial, and consumer sectors.
And while the numbers are important to shareholders, we also think Cisco’s expectations about the future are also important. Cisco has made significant investments and announcements in both enterprise and consumer video. For example, Cisco’s TelePresence product announced last month offers high definition video and audio conferencing capabilities that can make remote meetings more effective, allowing for more nuanced remote communications. (We also found it interesting that when researching the TelePresence announcement on Cisco’s Web site, a video pop-up of CEO John Chambers appeared to supplement the standard press release and data sheets.)
As for the uptake in consumer video, Chambers said in a statement that, “the Scientific Atlanta year-over-year growth rate was in the low 20s. Of particular interest [to Cisco] was the shipment of 1.3 million digital set-top boxes, an 18% increase in units shipped versus Q1 of last fiscal year.”
Our analysis: As a bellwether tech company, Cisco bears watching for current “state of the industry” and for future trends. Based on Cisco’s results, both service provider and enterprise spending is growing for high capacity IP communications. And much of the demand on the network is being driven by multiple flavors of digital video and high definition video in both the enterprise and consumer segments.
