Cisco sees acquisitions with focus on video

The executive did say he sees the weak economic environment as good timing for Cisco to invest in the consumer segment as the company can use its cash position and broad product focus to support new projects, compared with rivals depending on one or two consumer products.

"It plays to our advantage because we have $27 billion in cash," Chambers said. "What we've traditionally done in each of the downturns, we've invested in that time and used the opportunity to move into new areas."

Chambers said the company would come out with a consumer version of its TelePresence video conferencing product later this year, with prices "dramatically different" from the fees businesses pay for the technology.

He is banking on many consumers having already invested in high-definition television screens, which are needed for the service and which would otherwise be a large part of the cost, he said.

Chambers also said that a consumer version of Cisco's TelePresence technology would not require the same level of complexity as business installations, which include big HD screens with built-in microphone and camera lenses, and cost between $34,000 and $300,000 per unit.

He said TelePresence for businesses was one of the company's most successful products ever, in terms of the ability to make executives interested in it.

"We'll see if we can capture the same excitement in the home," he said.

(To see blog posts from the Consumer Electronics Show, please visit MediaFile at blogs.reuters.com/mediafile. For other CES stories, see here)

(Additional reporting by Ritsuko Ando in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)