Cisco disappointed with a forecast that its fiscal Q2 2017 revenue will fall by between two and four per cent, citing weakness in orders from service providers.

Quizzed on an investor call, CEO Chuck Robbins gave a number of reasons for the 12 per cent fall in orders from service providers in the current quarter, which was worse than the company anticipated heading into the period.

He mentioned customers considering consolidation who have put orders on hold. In addition, there are some operators focused more on density in their mobile networks, rather than core routing or edge routing, meaning less business for Cisco, according to Robbins.

He added that some customers outside the US are facing currency pressure and have halted capex spend until they see more clarity around the forex situation, and others dealing with political and regulatory issues. However, Robbins largely downplayed the impact of a Trump presidency in the US.

Quizzed directly about the new leader, Robbins responded: “I think that President-elect Trump appears to be very business oriented and is very focused on driving the US economy and anytime the US economy improves, that’s certainly good for us.”

Some observers have suggested that Cisco could be a net beneficiary from President Trump if his policies encourage greater domestic infrastructure investment.

The company’s performance in Q1 2017, covering the three months to 29 October, was brighter with a 1 per cent increase in revenue to $12.4 billion. Product revenue declined by 1 per cent, but service revenue was up 7 per cent.

By product area, security and NGN Routing increased 11 per cent and 6 per cent, respectively. Switching decreased 7 per cent, collaboration and data center each decreased 3 per cent, and wireless and service provider video each decreased 2 per cent.

Net income fell by four per cent to $2.3 billion, largely due to restructuring charges.