思科缓慢复苏

    思科（Cisco）重振旗鼓的努力已经开始慢慢奏效。这家网络设备巨头上周三公布的利润和销售数据均好于预期，但未来依然前途漫漫。

    首先来看数字：思科公布第二财季实现净利润22亿美元，好于上年同期的15亿美元；营收115亿美元，也高于上年同期的104亿美元。另外，这家总部位于圣何塞的公司还宣布，比计划提前一个季度实现了削减开支10亿美元的目标。“我们正在执行一个三年计划，推动盈利增长快于营收增长。目前的进展很顺利，”思科首席执行官约翰·钱伯斯在上周三的新闻稿中称。“大家将继续看到一个专注而积极的思科，致力于帮助客户运用智能网络，改造企业。”

    就在去年，思科还在竞争中惨败。利润率显著下降，臃肿的产品组合缺乏重点。钱伯斯做了一些痛苦但必要的减法：裁员约1万人，关闭了个人摄像机Flip这样的非核心业务。他还说，思科将对瞻博网络（Juniper Networks）、惠普（Hewlett-Packard）等竞争对手发起更猛烈的挑战，重新聚焦于公司核心的交换路由产品，提高利润率。迄今为止，钱伯斯看来正在兑现自己的诺言。“强化创新、速度和灵活性，”钱伯斯上周三在投资者电话会议上表示。“降低成本和复杂度”。

    思科的核心路由交换产品在最近财季占到了公司营收的近50%。但有几个小的业务部门增长迅速，比如数据中心，营收激增了88%，尽管3.33亿美元在思科总营收中的占比仍然很低。

    当然，思科还没有完全走出困境。投资者期待看到思科利润率的提高，而不只是企稳。虽然对于一家像思科这样规模的公司来说，钱伯斯已较为迅速地成功扭转了公司的颓势，但他对当前季度的预期仍然相对保守：思科预计营收同比增幅仅为5%-7%。而且，虽然瞻博、惠普等竞争对手目前也都有自己的问题，但中国企业华为（Huawei）正在北美企业市场大力拓展。此外，欧洲经济前景不明，政府支出减少，需要钱伯斯操心的事情太多了。

    Cisco's turnaround efforts are starting to pay off -- slowly. The networking equipment giant released better-than-expected profits and sales on Wednesday, but it still has a long road ahead.

    First, the numbers: Cisco (CSCO) reported second-quarter profit of $2.2 billion, up from last year's $1.5 billion. Revenue came in at $11.5 billion, compared with $10.4 billion a year ago. The San Jose-based company also reported that it had reached its goal of eliminating $1 billion in expenses a quarter ahead of schedule. "We are executing well on our three-year plan to drive earnings faster than revenue," Cisco CEO John Chambers said in a release issued on Wednesday. "You will continue to see a focused and aggressive Cisco that is helping our customers use intelligent networks to transform their businesses."

    Just last year, Cisco was getting its butt kicked by competitors. Margins had significantly deteriorated and its bloated portfolio of products lacked focus. Chambers made some painful but necessary cuts, laying off about 10,000 employees and shutting down distractions like the company's consumer-facing Flip line of camcorders. He also said Cisco would make a more aggressive push against competitors like Juniper Networks (JNPR) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), refocus on the company's core switching and routing products and improve margins. So far, it appears Chambers is delivering on his promises. "Innovation, speed, and agility is in," Chambers said in a call with investors on Wednesday. "Cost and complexity is out."

    Cisco's core routing and switching products made up nearly 50% of the company's revenue in this most recent quarter. But several of its smaller business segments are growing fast. Data center revenue, for example, was up 88%. At $333 million, it still makes up a small fraction of Cisco's overall revenue though.

    Of course, Cisco isn't out of the woods quite yet. Investors are looking for Cisco to improve -- not just stabilize -- margins. And while Chambers has managed to start turning things around relatively quickly (for a company of Cisco's size), his outlook for the current quarter was conservative: Cisco expects revenue to grow 5% to 7% from the year-ago period. What's more, while competitors like Juniper and HP are dealing with their own problems at the moment, China-based Huawei is making a big push for the North American enterprise market. And that,along with economic uncertainty in Europe and a decrease in government spending, has got to be keeping Chambers up at night.