Network equipment maker Cisco said its second-half sales in Hong Kong grew more than 35 per cent from a year earlier as companies replaced old equipment, and businesses such as the Mandarin Oriental hotel bought gear to offer new services to customers.
'Growth in Hong Kong was in the high 30s [per cent],' chief financial officer Dennis Powell said in a teleconference after the company's results announcement last week.
Sale orders from the booming banking and finance sector were at a record high, while orders from other sectors, such as logistics, supply chain, trading and transport, were better than expected, said Charleston Sin Chiu-shun, the general manager of Cisco Hong Kong and Macau.
'This is the best year we have had,' Mr Sin said.
The increased sales were partly due to the replacement cycle, with companies buying new routers and switches to replace the old ones. New applications also drove Cisco's sales.
'Sales from IP (internet protocol) phones increased 70 per cent from last year, as companies integrated their business processes with the phones,' said Mr Sin.
