Juniper's Kevin Johnson remains "very cautious" about its European prospects

Kevin Johnson, Juniper's (NYSE: JNPR) CEO, is being cautious outlook on the European telecom market because he believes the region's debt issues could create a "challenge" for the telecom and network equipment industry.

Kevin Johnson, Juniper Networks

Johnson

"We are approaching 2012 in a very cautious way," Johnson said in an interview with Bloomberg at last week's Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. "The ongoing growth of Internet traffic continues to create demand, but there are clearly some macroeconomic factors that will create a challenge."

The uncertain outlook in Europe is another blow to Juniper, whose Q4 2011 revenue declined 6 percent and Q1 2012 financial outlook fell short of analyst estimates, signaling that service providers are keeping a tight rein on their purses this year.

Johnson said that he thinks that Juniper will see revenue pick up in Asia, a region that contributes 20 percent to its sales.  

"China, India and Africa will grow faster than more developed markets," he said.

Outside of Asia, Juniper did see a slight uptick when AT&T (NYSE: T), one of its key customers, indicated in its capex report that it could make some big equipment purchases this year.

For more:
- Bloomberg has this article

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