AWS denies it's entering the networking market

Public cloud vendor confirms Cisco statement rebuffing speculation

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has denied that it is planning to launch a range of network switches to compete with the likes of Cisco.

In a widely circulated statement, Cisco said that the pair's CEOs recently spoke to discuss the speculation, with AWS' boss ruling out the move.

The Cisco statement, first published by MarketWatch, said: "Cisco and AWS have a longstanding customer and partner relationship, and during a recent call between Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins and AWS CEO Andy Jassy, Andy confirmed that AWS is not actively building a commercial network switch."

MarketWatch also said that an AWS spokesperson confirmed the statement, but had declined to offer any more information.

The news contradicts reports earlier in the week which claimed that AWS was planning an assault on the networking market to help tempt users to its public cloud.

The news spread quickly, with Cisco, Juniper and Arista all seeing their share prices plummet.

Cisco's share price has jumped over three per cent in the wake of AWS' denial, while Juniper's climbed more than two per cent.