Extreme Networks: Lead times are back to normal

Time to market: Extreme believes the actions it has taken have resolved short-term constraints

Extreme Networks claims it has resolved the supply chain issues that caused lead times for its kit to double in some cases last year.

The time it takes the switching vendor to get kit on site is now “almost in line with historical levels”, vice president of operations Frank Blohm confirmed on a second-quarter conference call, a transcript of which can be found here.

This seems to be in contrast with larger rival Cisco, whose UK partners are still experiencing lead times of up to four months.

Blohm admitted that 2009 had been a challenging year after chipset suppliers cut their output in response to the recession.

For the three months ended 27 December, NASDAQ-listed Extreme swung to a GAAP net loss of $1.4m (£900,000) as it took a $4.1m restructuring hit. It reduced its headcount by about eight per cent during the quarter.

However, revenues were up by a fifth on the previous quarter to $79.4m – topping expectations – and Blohm said the “greatly improved results” were due to the investment Extreme had made in its supply chain and inventory levels.

“We expect to continue seeing tight availability of key components from our suppliers through the first half of calendar year 2010 but believe the actions we have taken have resolved short-term constraints and position us well to meet future demands at close to historical lead times in the new few quarters,” he said.

Helmut Wilke, senior vice president of worldwide sales, said Extreme posted a “strong performance” in the EMEA enterprise space, as total sales from the region increased from $28.1m to $37.8m sequentially.

He added: “The competitive landscape remains tough particularly in the US. The downturn has just made every vendor push harder for business resulting in a higher noise level and a very competitive climate. We continued to see a high level of interest among enterprises to investigate alternatives and more cost-efficient solutions to the market leader.”