Cisco on Wednesday offered a cautiously optimistic prediction that the US would be leading the rest of the world out of the economic downturn before the end of this year, despite releasing earnings figures that suggested that the collapse in sales in the technology sector was still continuing.

John Chambers, chief executive of the US maker of communications equipment, which has become one of the bellwethers of the technology industry, offered the more upbeat comments though he continued to warn that any recovery will be slow to take hold.