Cisco warns of pending shortfall in earnings due to spending pressure in the tech sector.

Cisco Systems Inc., the world’s largest maker of computer networking gear, warned Wednesday that orders fell off abruptly in October and projected a large fall in sales in the current quarter. Its shares slid in after-hours trading.

Cisco reported flat earnings for the previous quarter, but on a conference call to discuss the results, Chief Executive John Chambers said he expects revenue to fall 5 percent to 10 percent in the current quarter, which began Oct. 26. That would mean revenue between $8.85 billion and $9.34 billion, far below the $10.4 billion expected by analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. (AP)