CSCO To Announce Next Generation CRS-1 Platform Next Month

Analysts at Oppenheimer & Co maintain their "outperform" rating on Cisco Systems

. The target price for CSCO is set to $29. Cisco Systems is expected to announce its new next generation CRS-1 platform next month. “The new platform supports 120Gbps per slot, overtaking Juniper's (

) T1600 throughput (single unit) and represents the first major upgrade to the CRS-1 core router platform,” the analysts say. Oppenheimer & Co adds, however, that “We believe Cisco has recently discovered issues with the supporting ASIC design, which could require a material redesign of the platform. This could delay product availability until mid-2011.” “Although the delay is not positive, we don't believe it opens much of a window for other vendors to displace Cisco,” the analysts mention.