Cisco takes on Juniper in router wars

NEWS The company will announce details of the technology later today. Cisco has recently found the competition nipping at its ankles. In March, Juniper released the first 10-gigabit router - faster than any product produced by Cisco for the high-end market. While Cisco's annual revenue is an estimated $25bn and its stock price falls, Juniper reports revenues of $1bn and has seen its share price double in the past 12 months. Cisco has been forced to admit that its contender is closing fast after its market share dropped from 75 per cent to 65 per cent in the last year. Juniper's lucrative contracts with Worldcom and Genuity have helped it capture 35 per cent of the $2bn worldwide router market. Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, warned of a difficult upcoming quarter. He said the company is being hit with reduced investment from its main customers following predictions of a US recession. However, Chambers predicted the slowdown would be over within six months claiming Cisco would only suffer from a "two quarter phenomenon".