12.

Commitments and Contingencies

(a) Operating Leases

The Company leases office space in several U.S. locations. Outside the United States, larger leased sites include sites in Australia, Belgium, China, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, and the United Kingdom. The Company also leases equipment and vehicles. Future minimum lease payments under all noncancelable operating leases with an initial term in excess of one year as of April 30, 2011 are as follows (in millions):


Fiscal Year	Amount
2011 (remaining three months)	$	94
2012		339
2013		214
2014		152
Thereafter		454

Total	$	1,253

(b) Purchase Commitments with Contract Manufacturers and Suppliers

The Company purchases components from a variety of suppliers and uses several contract manufacturers to provide manufacturing services for its products. During the normal course of business, in order to manage manufacturing lead times and help ensure adequate component supply, the Company enters into agreements with contract manufacturers and suppliers that either allow them to procure inventory based upon criteria as defined by the Company or that establish the parameters defining the Company's requirements. A significant portion of the Company's reported purchase commitments arising from these agreements consists of firm, noncancelable, and unconditional commitments. In certain instances, these agreements allow the Company the option to cancel, reschedule, and adjust the Company's requirements based on its business needs prior to firm orders being placed. As of April 30, 2011 and July 31, 2010, the Company had total purchase commitments for inventory of $4,257 million and $4,319 million, respectively.

The Company records a liability for firm, noncancelable, and unconditional purchase commitments for quantities in excess of its future demand forecasts consistent with the valuation of the Company's excess and obsolete inventory. As of April 30, 2011 and July 31, 2010, the liability for these purchase commitments was $154 million and $135 million, respectively, and was included in other current liabilities.

(c) Other Commitments

In connection with the Company's business combinations and asset purchases, the Company has agreed to pay certain additional amounts contingent upon the achievement of certain agreed-upon technology, development, product, or other milestones or upon the continued employment with the Company of certain employees of the acquired entities. The Company recognized such compensation expense of $18 million and $19 million during the three months ended April 30, 2011 and May 1, 2010 respectively, and $113 million and $85 million during the nine months ended April 30, 2011 and May 1, 2010, respectively. As of April 30, 2011, the Company estimated that future compensation expense and contingent consideration of up to $83 million may be recognized pursuant to these business combination and asset purchase agreements.

The Company also has certain funding commitments, primarily related to its investments in privately held companies and venture funds, some of which are based on the achievement of certain agreed-upon milestones, and some of which are required to be funded on demand. The funding commitments were $204 million and $279 million as of April 30, 2011 and July 31, 2010, respectively.

(d) Variable Interest Entities

In the ordinary course of business, the Company makes investments in privately held companies and provides financing to certain customers. These privately held companies and customers may be considered to be variable interest entities. The Company evaluates on an ongoing basis its investments in these privately held companies and its customer financings and has determined that as of April 30, 2011 there were no material unconsolidated variable interest entities.

In fiscal 2010, Cisco and EMC Corporation ("EMC"), together with VMware, Inc. ("VMware") formed the Virtual Computing Environment coalition. Similarly, the Company's investment in Acadia Enterprises LLC ("Acadia"), a joint venture with EMC in which VMware and Intel have also invested, is designed to pave the way for new delivery models in cloud computing solutions. During fiscal 2011, the Virtual Computing Environment coalition and Acadia were combined into a single entity and renamed The Virtual Computing Environment Company ("VCE"). As of April 30, 2011, the Company's cumulative investment in the combined VCE entity was approximately $100 million and it owned approximately 35% of the outstanding equity. The Company accounts for its investment in VCE under the equity method, and accordingly the Company's carrying value in VCE has been reduced by $40 million, which reflects its cumulative share of VCE's losses. Over the next 12 months, as VCE scales its operations, the Company expects that it will make additional investments in VCE and may incur additional losses, proportionate with the Company's ownership percentage.

(e) Product Warranties and Guarantees

The following table summarizes the activity related to the product warranty liability during the nine months ended April 30, 2011 and May 1, 2010 (in millions):


	Nine Months Ended
	April 30, 2011			May 1, 2010
Balance at beginning of period	$	360		$	321
Provision for warranties issued		330			342
Payments		(356	)		(328	)
Fair value of warranty liability acquired		—			7

Balance at end of period	$	334		$	342

The Company accrues for warranty costs as part of its cost of sales based on associated material product costs, labor costs for technical support staff, and associated overhead. The Company's products are generally covered by a warranty for periods ranging from 90 days to five years, and for some products the Company provides a limited lifetime warranty.

In the normal course of business, the Company indemnifies other parties, including customers, lessors, and parties to other transactions with the Company, with respect to certain matters. The Company has agreed to hold the other parties harmless against losses arising from a breach of representations or covenants or out of intellectual property infringement or other claims made against certain parties. These agreements may limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim. In addition, the Company has entered into indemnification agreements with its officers and directors, and the Company's bylaws contain similar indemnification obligations to the Company's agents. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the Company's limited history with prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, payments made by the Company under these agreements have not had a material effect on the Company's operating results, financial position, or cash flows.

The Company also provides financing guarantees, which are generally for various third-party financing arrangements to channel partners and other end-user customers. See Note 7. The Company's other guarantee arrangements as of April 30, 2011 and July 31, 2010 that are subject to recognition and disclosure requirements were not material.

(f) Legal Proceedings

Brazilian authorities have investigated the Company's Brazilian subsidiary and certain of its current and former employees, as well as a Brazilian importer of the Company's products, and its affiliates and employees, relating to alleged evasion of import taxes and alleged improper transactions involving the subsidiary and the importer. Brazilian tax authorities have assessed claims against the Company's Brazilian subsidiary based on a theory of joint liability with the Brazilian importer for import taxes and related penalties. In addition to claims asserted during prior fiscal years by Brazilian federal tax authorities, tax authorities from the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo asserted similar claims on the same legal basis during the second quarter of fiscal 2011.

The asserted claims by Brazilian federal tax authorities are for calendar years 2003 through 2007 and the asserted claims by the tax authorities from the state of Sao Paulo, are for calendar years 2005 through 2007. The total asserted claims by Brazilian state and federal tax authorities aggregated to approximately $515 million for the alleged evasion of import taxes, approximately $650 million for interest, and approximately $2.4 billion for various penalties, all determined using an exchange rate as of April 30, 2011. The Company has completed a thorough review of the matter and believes the asserted tax claims against it are without merit, and the Company intends to defend the claims vigorously. While the Company believes there is no legal basis for its alleged liability, due to the complexities and uncertainty surrounding the judicial process in Brazil and the nature of the claims asserting joint liability with the importer, the Company is unable to determine the likelihood of an unfavorable outcome against it and is unable to reasonably estimate a range of loss, if any. The Company does not expect a final judicial determination for several years.

On March 31, 2011, a purported shareholder class action lawsuit was filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California against Cisco and certain of its officers and directors. A second lawsuit with substantially similar allegations was filed with the same court on April 12, 2011 against Cisco and certain of its officers and directors. The lawsuits are purportedly brought on behalf of those who purchased the Company's publicly traded securities between May 12, 2010 and February 9, 2011, and between February 3, 2010 and February 9, 2011, respectively. Plaintiffs allege that defendants made false and misleading statements during quarterly earnings calls, purport to assert claims for violations of the federal securities laws, and seek unspecified compensatory damages and other relief. The Company believes the claims are without merit and intends to defend the actions vigorously. While the Company believes there is no legal basis for liability, due to the uncertainty surrounding the litigation process, Cisco is unable to reasonably estimate a range of loss, if any, at this time.

Beginning in April 2011, purported shareholder derivative lawsuits were filed in both the United States District Court for the Northern District of California and the California Superior Court for the County of Santa Clara against the Company's Board of Directors and several of its officers for allowing management to make allegedly false statements during earnings calls. The Company's management of its stock repurchase program is also alleged to have breached a fiduciary duty. The complaints include claims for violation of the federal securities laws, breach of fiduciary duty, aiding and abetting breaches of fiduciary duty, waste of corporate assets, unjust enrichment, and violations of the California Corporations Code. The complaint seeks compensatory damages, disgorgement, and other relief.

In addition, the Company is subject to legal proceedings, claims, and litigation arising in the ordinary course of business, including intellectual property litigation. While the outcome of these matters is currently not determinable, the Company does not expect that the ultimate costs to resolve these matters will have a material adverse effect on its consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.