Cisco Systems (NASDAQ: CSCO) is a networking and security technology company that designs and sells hardware, software, and services that power, secure, and extract insights from the Internet. Revenue comes from product sales across Networking, Security, Collaboration, and Observability categories, plus a services segment covering technical support and advanced services. Cisco sells through a two-tier channel model involving distributors, systems integrators, and service providers, alongside a direct sales force. Total revenue was $56.7 billion in FY2025 (fiscal year ended July 26, 2025), up 5% from $53.8 billion in FY2024, with product revenue growing 6% and services revenue growing 3%. The Americas contributed 59.4% of FY2025 revenue ($33.7 billion), EMEA 26.2% ($14.8 billion), and APJC 14.4% ($8.2 billion). Customers span enterprise, public sector, and service provider and cloud markets. Cisco was incorporated in California in 1984 and reincorporated in Delaware in 2021.

Revenue model

Cisco generates revenue through product sales (hardware, perpetual software licenses, and SaaS subscriptions) and services (technical support and advanced services). Product revenue grew 6% in FY2025 and services revenue grew 3%, per the 10-K filed September 3, 2025. Products are delivered on-premises, from the cloud, or in hybrid environments. The Splunk acquisition added security and observability software revenue.

Products and services

Networking: switching (Nexus 9000 series, Catalyst), routing, wireless, and servers, including SaaS and software license offerings. Security: Cisco Hypershield (cloud-native, AI-powered distributed security), Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), and Splunk Enterprise Security for threat detection and response. Collaboration: Webex suite, collaboration devices, Contact Center, and Communication Platform as a Service (CPaaS). Observability: application and network visibility tools. AI capabilities are embedded across all four categories.

Customers and end markets

Customers include enterprises of all sizes (large multinational, mid-market, and small business), public sector organizations (federal, state, local governments, educational institutions), and service providers including large webscale cloud providers. Product revenue growth in FY2025 was led by the enterprise market and the service provider and cloud market; AI infrastructure revenue from webscale customers drove the latter, per the FY2025 10-K.

Value-chain role

Cisco is a technology vendor and platform provider sitting between component suppliers and end-user IT infrastructure. It designs networking and security hardware and software, delivers them through channel partners (distributors, systems integrators, service providers), and supports them over the product lifecycle with technical and advanced services. The Nexus 9000 series underpins data center switching; the N9300 Smart Switches with embedded DPUs represent Cisco's AI data center hardware direction as of FY2025.

Geographic exposure

Three geographic segments as of FY2025 (fiscal year ended July 26, 2025): Americas $33.7 billion (59.4% of revenue), EMEA $14.8 billion (26.2%), and APJC $8.2 billion (14.4%). All three segments grew in FY2025 versus FY2024.

Source: SEC 10-K, filed 2025-09-03

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