Requiring U.S.-made parts would be “grossly inefficient” and a “radical departure” from normal markets, said Cisco, the largest maker of networking equipment. The comments were filed with the U.S. agency running the broadband initiative, part of the $787 billion stimulus package.
The rules may slow projects the stimulus was meant to spur because telecommunications networks contain parts from around the globe, the two equipment makers say. Congress, seeking to boost U.S. jobs, said funds provided under the law passed in February generally cant be used for iron, [...]

Dow Jones & Co. said Monday it would add Cisco Systems Inc., the worlds largest maker of computer networking hardware, to the 30-stock industrial average, replacing General Motors Corp. The change takes effect June 8.
The automotive giant filed for bankruptcy protection Monday. Meanwhile, Cisco has been weathering the recession without major layoffs, and has kept acquiring companies to expand its technology portfolio.
Shares of San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco rose 96 cents, or 5.2 percent, to $19.46 in midday trading. Investment funds that track the Dow Jones industrials are now forced to buy Cisco shares to match the index.
The addition of Cisco [...]

“We didnt build up $34 billion in cash to have it there just for security,” Chambers said today during an interview with Bloomberg Television. The companys cash and short-term investments have climbed 14 percent in the past three months.
Cisco, the worlds largest maker of networking equipment, is coping with a plunge in sales as recession-wary customers curb spending. AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., the biggest U.S. phone companies, were downgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. because of slowing subscriber growth. To adjust to lower demand, [...]

Chief Executive John Chambers said customers are “finally seeing something reasonably solid underneath their feet,” and the company itself has seen order rates possibly bottom out.
The worlds largest maker of computer networking gear posted a profit of $1.3 billion, or 23 cents per share, for the fiscal third quarter, which ended April 25. That was down from $1.8 billion, or 29 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.
Excluding the cost of stock-based compensation and other items, Ciscos earnings were 30 cents per share, 5 cents above the average forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.
Sales for the San [...]

“Instead of each month looking and not knowing where the bottom is, they are for the first time getting something tangible underneath them,” he said yesterday in an interview. “No one is predicting an upturn yet, but you have to have stabilization or leveling out before you can have an upturn.”
Cisco, the worlds largest maker of networking equipment, is coping with a plunge in orders from corporate customers and phone companies. To adjust to lower demand, the company set out to cut at least $1 billion [...]

Brocade and IBM are set to announce Tuesday that IBM will help sell more Brocade products by re-branding them with IBMs own logo and pushing them out through IBMs sales force - a common arrangement among technology companies that gives the smaller one (Brocade) access to better distribution and the bigger one (IBM) access to products it didnt pay to manufacture.
IBM has resold Brocade products - specifically, switches that connect servers and data storage machines - in this way for over a decade. Tuesdays announcement is an expansion of that partnership, in which IBM will resell the Internet routers and [...]

“Cisco moves very rapidly on acquisitions,” Chambers said today at a briefing in Seoul, when asked about Sun. “If we were going to be in an area, we would probably have already moved.”
Hewlett-Packard Co. has no plans to begin merger talks with Sun after the companys discussions with International Business Machines Corp. collapsed, a person familiar with the matter said last week. While Hewlett-Packard, Cisco and Dell Inc. have been suggested as possible acquirers, Sun may have difficultly finding a suitor, according to Bill Kreher, an [...]

Hewlett-Packard Co., which held merger talks with Sun last year, has no plans to return to the negotiating table, according to a person familiar with the situation. Cisco Systems Inc. and Dell Inc., also mentioned as possible acquirers, are unlikely to bid, said Bill Kreher, an analyst at Edward Jones & Co.
“Others have already passed over Sun — given that, were unsure who would step up to the plate,” Kreher, who is based in St. Louis, said in an interview. “We are unsure if the company [...]

“We will be active — not hope to be — will be,” Hooper, Ciscos senior vice president of corporate business development, said in an interview. “We continue to use M&A as a key part of our growth strategy. The downturn for us is a big positive.”
Few Silicon Valley companies have made more acquisitions than Cisco, the worlds largest maker of networking equipment. The company has bought about 130 businesses in its 25-year history, using them to enter new markets, such as cable set-top boxes and wireless [...]

After growing into one of Silicon Valleys most prominent companies by selling behind-the-scenes computing products, Cisco is now expanding aggressively, using its hefty financial resources to go on the attack while other companies are just trying to survive.
In recent weeks, Cisco said it will start selling servers, opening a new rivalry with longtime partners like Hewlett-Packard Co. and IBM Corp. Cisco also agreed to pay about $590 million in stock to pick up Pure Digital Technologies, which makes the popular Flip camcorders.
Cisco has not been spared by the recession. Its profit declined 27 percent in its last quarter, which ended [...]