About CISCO

Foundedin1984byagroupofcomputerscientistsfrom
StanfordUniversity

PrimaryproductwasRouter
In1997enteredintoelitecluboffortune500
Amongtop5companiesinreturnoninvestmentandin
returnonassets
Exceptionalgrowthin1998ascompaniesmarket
capitalizationpassed$100billionmark(15times1997sales)
Financialyeardividedintofourquartersstartingfrom
1stAugust
WorldwideleaderinnetworkingfortheInternet

ProvideInternetProtocol-based(IP)networkingsuiteof
solutions

Ciscosolutionsareinmostcorporate,education,and
governmentnetworksworldwide

Publiclytradedstartingin1990(NASDAQ:CSCO)

$13.71pershare(asofApril4,20034:00PM)

34,987employees(asofFebruary2003)
B.Market segment, Products & Channels
Operates in the communications and information technology (IT) segment.
Digitization had enabled the convergence of three independent proprietary networks phone networks for voice, the local-area and
wide-area networks for data, and the broadcast networks for video, in the form of the Internet.
Cisco was accelerating to grow in the new IP-based
networks market segment that did not exist earlier.
Presently, Cisco designs, manufactures and sells Internet
Protocol (IP) based networking and other products
related to the communications and IT industry and provide
services associated with these products and their use.
Ciscos product portfolio is categorized into following
categories Switching, Routing, Service Provider Video (set-
top boxes & cable modems), Collaboration (IP phones, call
center & messaging products, WebEx),
Security, Wireless, Data Center, Other Products (mainly
Linksys home networking products) & Services (Technical
Support).
C.Business strategy
Cisco operates in both the Business-to-Business (B2B) and Business-to-Consumer (B2C) markets in the computer networking segment.
In the B2C market, Cisco focuses on the low cost strategy selling products such as wireless routers, switches and surveillance cameras.
Market, Cisco focuses on the differentiation strategy with innovative products and business solutions for collaboration such as Webex, Telepresence and SocialMiner.
 In terms of Porters potential business strategy
types for achieving competitive advantage, Cisco
lies between differentiation and low cost
leadership quadrants at the bottom since it
operates in a niche segment of networking. This
business strategy heavily depends on research
and development to ensure product's uniqueness,
reliability, quality and customer satisfaction.
 Uniqueness Low Cost
Perceived by Position
Customer

Differentiation Overall Cost

Industry Wide Leadership

CISCO
Particular
Segment Only Focus