UPDATE 2-NetApp revenue misses forecasts, shares fall

* Q3 adj EPS 28 cts vs Wall street view of 28 cts

* Q3 rev $746 mln vs Wall Street view of $905 mln

* Plans to cut 6 pct of workforce, take charge

* Shares fall 8 percent (Adds comments from CFO, analyst, earnings details, byline)

By Jim Finkle

BOSTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - NetApp Inc (NTAP.O), a data storage equipment maker, reported an almost 16 percent drop in quarterly revenue, missing Wall Street forecasts as customers cut spending, sending its shares down 8 percent.

The company said it is cutting 540 workers, or about 6 percent of its 8,383 employees, to maintain profitability at a time of falling sales. It will take about $30 million to $35 million in restructuring charges during the current quarter.

"This macroeconomic situation is here to stay for a while and it's a lot worse than people thought it would be," Chief Financial Officer Steve Gomo said in an interview. "We want to make sure we have a business model that yields a reasonable result at a lower level of revenue."

Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said the results suggest that other hardware makers, including International Business Machines Corp (IBM.N), EMC Corp (EMC.N), Hewlett-Packard Co (HPQ.N) and Dell Inc (DELL.O), may also face a tougher-than-expected 2009, especially because it comes on the heels of a disappointing earnings forecast from top networking equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O).