Are Competitors Eating Into Cisco’s Core? (GigaOM)

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The worst part, however has been a share decline in company’s core business — switches. The Wall Street Journal reports that the sales for Internet switches declines 11 percent to $12 billion its its fiscal year – hurt primarily due to competition from rivals such as Hewlett-Packard. Check out this little tidbit from this great Journal story on Cisco:

In addition to the recession, Cisco faced increased competition from rival Hewlett-Packard Co. The company’s new management structure has at times slowed its response to rivals’ moves, according to people familiar with the matter. In late 2007, for instance, H-P started promoting a warranty for its switches that provides free upgrades and support. Under Cisco’s new structure, a decision about how to respond to H-P’s offering was delayed as it worked its way through multiple committees, these people said. Cisco didn’t match H-P’s promotion until this April, and during that period Cisco’s market share fell.

Are Competitors Eating Into Cisco’s Core?