Network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc is cutting 4,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce,as it makes a fresh attempt to reduce costs and refocus ongrowth areas in the face of uncertain demand for its networkingequipment.

Shares of the world's biggest network equipment maker fellmore than 9 percent after hours, their biggest drop in more thana year if reflected on Nasdaq on Thursday.

A lukewarm revenue forecast dashed expectations that Ciscocould overcome muted demand for tech infrastructure. Its shareshad been up more than 50 percent in the past 12 months.

Cisco has been whittling away at its workforce and sellingoff consumer businesses - such as its line of "Flip" cameras andhome networking - in a turnaround begun in 2010, when it startedlosing ground to nimbler rivals like Juniper Networks and Palo Alto Networks.

The company that once specialized in providing the backboneof the Internet now sees software and equipment for datacentersand corporate cloud networking as its keys to growth. ButWednesday's results suggest the pace of expansion has beenslower than anticipated, analysts said.

"The environment in terms of our business is improvingslightly but nowhere near the pace that we want," said Chief Executive John Chambers on a conference call following quarterlyearnings. "We have to very quickly reallocate the resources."

Cisco said last month it plans to buy cybersecurity companySourcefire Inc for $2.7 billion. The company has made it apriority to improve security across its hardware, software and cloud products.

Chambers also said the current business environment was underpforming his expectations. Despite strength in the United States, weakness in Asia and mixed results from Europe continued to dog its business.

The Cisco CEO's take on the global corporate technologyenvironment is closely watched by investors, as Cisco isregarded a strong indicator of the general health of thetechnology industry because of its broad customer base.

Shares of Microsoft Corp, Oracle Corp, IBM and Hewlett-Packard Co all fell slightly afterhours.

Investors had high hopes

Cisco forecast 3 percent to 5 percent revenue growth thisquarter, toward the low end of expectations, as it continues tograpple with an uncertain global IT spending environment.

Executives also forecast on Wednesday earnings-per-share of50 cents to 51 cents in its fiscal current quarter. Earlier,Cisco reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue in line with Wall Street expectations.

The company's forecast for current-quarter revenue growth translated into a range of $12.2 billion to $12.5 billion.Analysts on average had expected $12.5 billion.

"You had a tough set-up with higher expectations going in,"said Mark McKechnie, an analyst at Evercore, who said last quarter's relatively strong earnings and financial forecasts had raised optimism among investors.

"Chambers' commentary was a bit more muted; he's talking about a slower recovery but inconsistency across geographies."

Cisco had a net profit of $2.3 billion, or 42 cents pershare, in the fourth quarter. That compared with a profit of$1.9 billion, or 36 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter.

Revenue rose 6 percent to $12.4 billion, matching analysts' expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Excluding some items, the company reported profit of 52cents per share, which was a penny better than analysts' average estimate.