“Enterprise is our core capability,” Cisco Chief Executive Officer John Chambers told investors at a technology forum on April 7. “We’re an enterprise company. That’s where we started.”

The enterprise business and public sector contribute about 46 percent to Cisco’s sales, Chambers said. David McCulloch, a spokesman for Cisco, declined to comment.

“Cisco is clearly the leader in this domain, but we also believe changes are happening,” Huawei’s He said in the interview. “Those changes will mainly occur because of the emergence of converged technologies and new, innovative, technologies. When those changes occur, the current market and customer needs will change.”

Sharpening Focus Cisco’s shares have declined 31 percent in the past year, trailing the 19 percent gain in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index, as the company struggled to maintain its historic levels of profitability amid an expansion into more than 30 side businesses such as smart grids, home networking and digital music hosting.

Cisco’s Chambers has promised to sharpen the network- equipment maker’s focus. The company overhauled management May 5 to concentrate on three regions and rein in its council-style management structure. Last month, the company said it will shut its Flip video-camera unit and cut 550 jobs.

“Cisco’s issues recently could open up some opportunities for Huawei,” said Duncan Clark, chairman of Beijing-based BDA China, which advises technology companies. We’ve seen Huawei’s margin-sucking abilities and they may be applying that to the enterprise segment.”

Global Share Huawei has seen its global share of switches and routers sold to carriers and telecommunication companies rise to 12 percent last year from 2 percent in 2005, according to Matt Walker, a Chiang Mai, Thailand-based analyst at telecommunications consultant Ovum. Cisco’s share of that market has dropped to 41 percent, from 49 percent, over the same period, Walker estimates.