Cisco Expects a Decline in Revenue of Up to 10%

The network equipment maker’s chief executive, John T. Chambers, issued the warning as the company reported lower-than-expected revenue for its first fiscal quarter. Mr. Chambers attributed the warning to sluggish demand in emerging markets, as well as the chilling effect of the recent government shutdown on business confidence.

Mr. Chambers said companies in emerging markets like China had become hesitant to buy Cisco products because of political repercussions from reports about the United States spying on foreign governments.

He said Cisco was also seeing a slowdown in decision-making by companies because of economic uncertainty. Mr. Chambers additionally cited a big decline in revenue from television set-top box sales as the company pulled away from less-profitable contracts in that market.

He said Cisco’s orders fell sharply toward the end of the company’s first quarter because of big declines in many of its most important emerging market countries.

“The last two weeks of the last quarter was really tough,” Mr. Chambers told analysts on a conference call.

Shares of Cisco fell 10.3 percent, to $21.52, in after-hours trading after the company released its disappointing financial results targets.

Cisco said revenue grew only 2 percent, to $12.09 billion, in its fiscal first quarter, which ended Oct. 26, from $11.88 billion in the period a year earlier, below analysts’ average estimate of $12.34 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

The company had forecast growth of 3 percent to 5 percent in the quarter.

Mr. Chambers told analysts that while the partial federal government shutdown directly cut a smaller-than-expected $50 million off Cisco’s revenue, it also reduced demand from nongovernment customers.

He said the shutdown “exasperated the lack of confidence among business leaders we had highlighted over the past few quarters.”

Cisco said its net income dropped to $2 billion, or 37 cents a share, from $2.09 billion, or 39 cents a share. Excluding one-time items, the company earned 53 cents a share, compared with Wall Street expectations of 51 cents a share.

Cisco also said its board had authorized up to $15 billion in additional repurchases of its common stock.

Kirkman Expects Us to do Better Next Time

Robert Kirkman was joined by a packed room of fans for a in-depth question and answer session to celebrate 10 years of The Walking Dead at this year’s Comic-Con. A massive line formed on the center of the room as Kirkman joked and talked about everything from charcter’s death to tigers. Be warned, there are massive spoilers for the Walking Dead comic series and TV show contained below.

To kick things off, a fan asked how the death of Glenn is going to affect the survivors. “His death is at the center of everything. There is stuff coming up with Maggie,” Kirkman said. He expressed that killing Glenn was going to be a major factor in the upcoming war.

The next fan wondered if Kirkman had a favorite character? “I’ve had favorite characters in the past and I’ve killed them.” Kirkman laughed. “My favorite characters historically have been Tyreese and Axel and all the other dead ones.”

When asked how involved he was in the AMC television show, he responded, “I’m in the writer’s room full-time… I’m involved in the process.” Kirkman said he loved to see the show change and diverge from the comics. “It’s really rewarding and really fun. It’s a fun process to go back and do things differently and improve things. Everything is different. If it was just the comics again I’d be bored.”

Another fan asked for advice for the Walking Dead zombie run course. “Find the dead spots and rest. There are people handing out water and you should drink it.”

On the subject of Carl and whether or not he would ever have any peers his own age around Kirkman laughed, “If they survive the war, there will be a quite larger cast. There will be more kids. Assuming they don’t die.”

He also discussed the Walkers and whether or not fans could expect any sort of evolution from them. Would they change as the series progresses? “The Walkers are not evolving. That’s a Romero trope that I think I should stay away from, because I’ve done enough of those. I’m taken enough from him.” He stressed that it was more about the characters learning more about the zombies and not how the zombies change. The living had to adapt to the dead, not the other way around.

“No, even if I am writing the same characters, the Rick Grimes in the comic is not the same as the Rick Grimes of the show. The comic existed a very long time before the show, and I don’t want to the show to change it, Kirkman said when asked if the decisions of the show effected the way he writes characters in the book.

When asked if the tiger was going to be a problem in upcoming issues Kirkman laughed causing the audience to join him. “The tiger is gonna be a problem. It’s a tiger.”

Apparently asking a question for a friend who was a self-proclaimed “super fan,” an audience member wanted to know what the title of the series represented. Are the Walking Dead the zombies or the humans struggling to find a place in the world. “It’s whatever you want to think. It’s a play on words. It is kinda of about the characters, but I’m not artsy fartsy so it’s whatever you want it to be, I don’t care,” Kirkman answered.

The next fan wondered if the series could survive the death of Rick or if he was central to the title. “Sure. No one is safe. The book could survive Rick, there are enough strong characters that the book could continue,” Kirkman said.

Kirkman was then asked if he based anyone in the book on real people, perhaps friend or family?  “Not really, there are certain aspects of me that are in the characters, but not really. I have dead heads in a fish tank, so I added that.” He then relayed the story of killing Glenn in the comic and having to face the actor who portrayed him on the TV series. “It was nothing personal,” he laughed.

The panel was then awkwardly silent as Kirkman pointed out that there was no one else in line to ask questions. “Are we out of questions? Oh.. this is awkward,” he said to laughs from the audience. Fans quickly jumped from their seats and ran to get in line. “It’s okay, we can end early!”

One of the question from the newly formed line was whether fans of the video games, television show and comic could expect crossovers. Would characters from one series appear in another? “I don’t wanna spoil anything, but you can expect more Easter eggs. We like to reward fans of the comic,” Kirkman cryptically added.

When asked if there would be more webispodes in conjunction with the new season, Kirkman said yes. “I think there might be, but don’t quote me on that. I feel like I might be announcing something I’m not supposed to.”

A fan then said he had just received a teaser image that simply read “Dead.” He wanted to know what it meant and what it was teasing. “There will be another one tomorrow and another the next day. It’s a teaser; you are supposed to be intrigued. Check the Skybound panel; we’ll be announcing that at the panel,” Kirkman answered,

Kirkman was then asked what his favorite story was. Presumablly, the fan wanted to know which story arc from Walking Dead was Kirkman’s favorite, but since he did not specify, Kirkman took the moment to joke around.

“I loved zombie movie and I hated how they ended. There wasn’t anything long term and I thought it would be fun to do,” Kirkman said of his initial idea for the show. He just wanted to know if people could still make pizza in a post-apocalyptic world. “It’s not hard, right? They could still make pizza, yeah?”

Finally, Kirkman was asked what his favorite comic series and television show are?

“Savage Dragon has been my favorite comic forever. Of new stuff, I really like Manhattan Projects and Saga. For TV, Breaking Bad. Sons of Anarchy is probably my all-time favorite, I think.”

As the panel came to an end, Kirkman ribbed the audience for the silence and lack of questions earlier. “I am extremely disappointed in all of you. I rely on you people for these panels! I don’t prepare at all. I expected more from you people. If we do this again next year, I expect better.”

Benjamin is a writer and storyteller. He owns many leather-bound books and his office smells of rich mahogany. Follow Benjamin on Twitter @616Earth, or find him on IGN.

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