9/8/2009 -- Recovery in the enterprise routing segment could well be imminent, but recovery in the switching segment seems altogether less so.

That has to concern Cisco Systems Inc., which -- in spite of the fact that its Q2 financial performance surpassed Wall Street's expectations -- continues to underperform in a brutal economic climate.

The worldwide switching market grew 5 percent between the first and second quarter of 2009, according to market watcher Infonetics Research.

That's a far from spectacular showing, however. In the routing segment, for example, revenues also increased and at a greater clip. Year-over-year, Infonetics reports, the market was "otherwise down significantly" -- although researchers do hazard to identify a few bright spots, such as increased demand for both 10G and 1G Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) switches. The latter segment spiked by nearly one-third.

Infonetics officials sought to put a positive spin on Q2, however.

"Given the market freefall in the first quarter of the year and continuing doubts about worldwide economic conditions, it is good news that spending on Ethernet switches increased 5 percent this quarter," said analyst Matthias Machowinski, in a statement. "While the Ethernet switch market is down 24 percent from this time last year, sales are moving up instead of down, and, based on vendor guidance, it looks like the market will see more growth in the coming quarter as well."

Also worrisome for Cisco is its performance in the application delivery controller segment, where, until recently, it led the market. In Q2, however, Cisco's share in this segment contracted even as rival F5 Networks' increased, "giving F5 the clear lead two quarters in a row," according to Machowinski. --Stephen Swoyer