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Spooked Cisco chief phoned AWS, asked: You're not making a switch, are you?

Switchzilla's share price dipped following rumor of direct rivalry

Network hardware makers can rest easy: the tech titan that is Amazon Web Services isn't going to be selling switches any time soon, which will likely be music to the ears of current AWS supplier Cisco.

News website The Information reported at the end of last week that Amazon was mulling over whether to sell its own switches. Those potential devices, the title reported, could have been supplied with built-in connections to AWS.

The boxen would have been white-label devices running open-source software. Marketwatch, another biz news website, reported that the AWS chatter caused a five per cent slump in Cisco's share price, along with similar dips in the prices of Arista and Juniper Networks.

The pub then followed up by securing an official denial from Cisco that AWS is going to enter the hardware business. A Switchzilla spokesman 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."

Some firms traditionally regarded as customers have been pondering about building (or branding white-label gear as) their own tech. Facebook has gone a step further, and while its 18-month foray into drones and aerial connectivity was abortive, it has devised reference designs for networks based on white-label gear.

An Amazon spokeswoman told The Register: "I can confirm the statement from Cisco is accurate." ®

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