Cisco slaps Aussies with price hike

Denies weaker Aussie dollar is the only reason.

Networking giant Cisco has hit Australian partners and customers with a 9.2 percent price hike across its entire product range.

The price increase will come into effect on July 9th. Partners and customers were given 30 days notice following the decision last week, first reported by Delimiter.

A Cisco spokesperson confirmed to CRN it would increase pricing across its Australian product range. 

"This decision is the result of our regular business review processes that we conduct periodically and takes into consideration a number of factors. In the past, this process has also lead to reduced prices when certain conditions are met."

It comes amid the recent ongoing weakness of the Australian dollar compared with the greenback, however, Cisco said that other factors were also at play.

Last year Cisco initiated a major cost cutting and product consolidation drive year in response to disappointing financial results.

The company has since succeeded in cutting around $US1 billion in costs, while consolidating its vast portfolio of products into five core categories - a restructure which resulted in the shedding of 23,000 jobs.

“[We had about] five inches too much around the waist,” Cisco CEO and chairman John Chambers told delegates at the company’s annual partner summit in San Diego in April. “We are more aggressive as a company than we’ve ever been."

Cisco reported positive results in its Australian operations for its last financial year, clawing back from a $13 million loss in FY10 to post profit of $7.3 million in FY11.