EZChip wins deals with Cisco and Juniper Networks

August 15, 2007 – Semiconductor firm EZChip has officially stated that it has won contracts with Cisco and Juniper Networks, and in doing so has become the first network processor startup to win deals with the two big router companies.

Speculation has been around since January 2006 that EZChip had won a contract with Juniper, although neither company disclosed which Juniper products are using EZChip’s processors.  The announcement was made during EZChip’s earnings call on August 13, as CEO Eli Fruchter listed some of the company’s recent achievements.

Juniper represented 40% of EZChip’s revenues for the first half of 2007, and that figure could easily rise as Juniper launches more systems based on EZChip processors.

Fruchter added that: “We believe that based on the progress that is being made that Cisco will start production some time in 2008.”  EZChip has 115 design wins, of which 37 are shipping in production, according to Fruchter.  The company has also won business with Alcatel-Lucent, however Fruchter indicated that Alcatel-Lucent hasn’t made the switch from application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to off-the-shelf parts yet.

LanOptics, EZChips parent company, reported a loss of $1.6mn for the second quarter of 2007, while revenue reached $4.6mn for the period, compared to a revenue of $3.9mn for the previous quarter.