Cisco CEO sees share gains in public sector

NEW YORK, USA: Cisco Systems Inc chief executive John Chambers said the network equipment maker would likely gain share in the overall market, including the public sector, where it suffered a fall in orders last quarter.

"I'd be surprised if, in the public sector and the market as a whole, our share as a total ... doesn't go up," he told a conference hosted by Sanford Bernstein on Thursday.

Cisco in November announced a weak sales outlook, citing weak orders from the public sector late in the quarter that ended October 30. That outlook by the biggest manufacturer of routers and switches sparked a sell-off in the company's shares.

Chambers said he had spent the last 45 days inspecting the overall business to figure out what had gone wrong. Cisco's enterprise and commercial business was solid, he said, although state and local governments had cut back on spending and cable service providers ordered fewer set-top boxes.

He also said expenses were coming down.