NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) – Juniper Networks Inc (NYSE:JNPR)
said it expects its market opportunity to grow more than 60
percent over the next three years, as it launches more advanced
network equipment and enters new markets like mobile security.
Juniper’s target market is likely to grow to $66 billion in
2013 from $41 billion in 2010 as new products like its QFabric
data center systems boost sales, Chief Financial Officer Robyn
Denholm told a financial analyst meeting.
She also reiterated the company’s long-term revenue growth
target of 20 percent or more a year.
Juniper has been recently been stepping up competition
against its bigger rival Cisco Systems Inc (NASDAQ:CSCO) with new
products for corporate data centers as well as mobile security
systems. It previously focused on selling routers and switches
to phone service providers.
"We have large and growing addressable markets, and more
importantly, we’re investing and entering new markets," Denholm
said.
She shrugged off concerns about profitability after Cisco
recently shocked Wall Street with weak margins.
Juniper will try to gain share but not by lowering its
prices, Denholm said, forecasting its gross margins to stay at
around 66 to 68 percent in the long term compared to 67.5
percent in 2010.
She also said sales to service providers, still its main
customer base, were growing faster than financial analysts
expected.
Expectations it was winning share from rivals like Cisco
and hopes that an economic recovery was boosting corporate
technology spending have lifted Juniper shares in the past
year. They closed at $43.76 on Thursday, up 52 percent
year-on-year.
Juniper’s fourth-quarter revenue rose 26 percent to $1.19
billion, beating the Street’s average forecast.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)