????思科（Cisco）重振旗鼓的努力已經(jīng)開(kāi)始慢慢奏效。這家網(wǎng)絡(luò)設(shè)備巨頭上周三公布的利潤(rùn)和銷(xiāo)售數(shù)據(jù)均好于預(yù)期，但未來(lái)依然前途漫漫。

????首先來(lái)看數(shù)字：思科公布第二財(cái)季實(shí)現(xiàn)凈利潤(rùn)22億美元，好于上年同期的15億美元；營(yíng)收115億美元，也高于上年同期的104億美元。另外，這家總部位于圣何塞的公司還宣布，比計(jì)劃提前一個(gè)季度實(shí)現(xiàn)了削減開(kāi)支10億美元的目標(biāo)。“我們正在執(zhí)行一個(gè)三年計(jì)劃，推動(dòng)盈利增長(zhǎng)快于營(yíng)收增長(zhǎng)。目前的進(jìn)展很順利，”思科首席執(zhí)行官約翰·錢(qián)伯斯在上周三的新聞稿中稱(chēng)。“大家將繼續(xù)看到一個(gè)專(zhuān)注而積極的思科，致力于幫助客戶運(yùn)用智能網(wǎng)絡(luò)，改造企業(yè)。”

????就在去年，思科還在競(jìng)爭(zhēng)中慘敗。利潤(rùn)率顯著下降，臃腫的產(chǎn)品組合缺乏重點(diǎn)。錢(qián)伯斯做了一些痛苦但必要的減法：裁員約1萬(wàn)人，關(guān)閉了個(gè)人攝像機(jī)Flip這樣的非核心業(yè)務(wù)。他還說(shuō)，思科將對(duì)瞻博網(wǎng)絡(luò)（Juniper Networks）、惠普（Hewlett-Packard）等競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手發(fā)起更猛烈的挑戰(zhàn)，重新聚焦于公司核心的交換路由產(chǎn)品，提高利潤(rùn)率。迄今為止，錢(qián)伯斯看來(lái)正在兌現(xiàn)自己的諾言。“強(qiáng)化創(chuàng)新、速度和靈活性，”錢(qián)伯斯上周三在投資者電話會(huì)議上表示。“降低成本和復(fù)雜度”。

????思科的核心路由交換產(chǎn)品在最近財(cái)季占到了公司營(yíng)收的近50%。但有幾個(gè)小的業(yè)務(wù)部門(mén)增長(zhǎng)迅速，比如數(shù)據(jù)中心，營(yíng)收激增了88%，盡管3.33億美元在思科總營(yíng)收中的占比仍然很低。

????當(dāng)然，思科還沒(méi)有完全走出困境。投資者期待看到思科利潤(rùn)率的提高，而不只是企穩(wěn)。雖然對(duì)于一家像思科這樣規(guī)模的公司來(lái)說(shuō)，錢(qián)伯斯已較為迅速地成功扭轉(zhuǎn)了公司的頹勢(shì)，但他對(duì)當(dāng)前季度的預(yù)期仍然相對(duì)保守：思科預(yù)計(jì)營(yíng)收同比增幅僅為5%-7%。而且，雖然瞻博、惠普等競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手目前也都有自己的問(wèn)題，但中國(guó)企業(yè)華為（Huawei）正在北美企業(yè)市場(chǎng)大力拓展。此外，歐洲經(jīng)濟(jì)前景不明，政府支出減少，需要錢(qián)伯斯操心的事情太多了。

????Cisco's turnaround efforts are starting to pay off -- slowly. The networking equipment giant released better-than-expected profits and sales on Wednesday, but it still has a long road ahead.

????First, the numbers: Cisco (CSCO) reported second-quarter profit of $2.2 billion, up from last year's $1.5 billion. Revenue came in at $11.5 billion, compared with $10.4 billion a year ago. The San Jose-based company also reported that it had reached its goal of eliminating $1 billion in expenses a quarter ahead of schedule. "We are executing well on our three-year plan to drive earnings faster than revenue," Cisco CEO John Chambers said in a release issued on Wednesday. "You will continue to see a focused and aggressive Cisco that is helping our customers use intelligent networks to transform their businesses."

????Just last year, Cisco was getting its butt kicked by competitors. Margins had significantly deteriorated and its bloated portfolio of products lacked focus. Chambers made some painful but necessary cuts, laying off about 10,000 employees and shutting down distractions like the company's consumer-facing Flip line of camcorders. He also said Cisco would make a more aggressive push against competitors like Juniper Networks (JNPR) and Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), refocus on the company's core switching and routing products and improve margins. So far, it appears Chambers is delivering on his promises. "Innovation, speed, and agility is in," Chambers said in a call with investors on Wednesday. "Cost and complexity is out."

????Cisco's core routing and switching products made up nearly 50% of the company's revenue in this most recent quarter. But several of its smaller business segments are growing fast. Data center revenue, for example, was up 88%. At $333 million, it still makes up a small fraction of Cisco's overall revenue though.

????Of course, Cisco isn't out of the woods quite yet. Investors are looking for Cisco to improve -- not just stabilize -- margins. And while Chambers has managed to start turning things around relatively quickly (for a company of Cisco's size), his outlook for the current quarter was conservative: Cisco expects revenue to grow 5% to 7% from the year-ago period. What's more, while competitors like Juniper and HP are dealing with their own problems at the moment, China-based Huawei is making a big push for the North American enterprise market. And that,along with economic uncertainty in Europe and a decrease in government spending, has got to be keeping Chambers up at night.