CSCO vs PM Comparison

Cisco Systems is the largest provider of networking equipment in the world and one of the largest software companies in the world. Its largest businesses are selling networking hardware and software (where it has leading market shares) and cybersecurity software like firewalls. It also has collaboration products, like its Webex suite, and observability tools. It primarily outsources its manufacturing to third parties and has a large sales and marketing staff—25,000 strong across 90 countries. Overall, Cisco employees 80,000 employees and sells its products globally.

Created from the international operations of Altria in 2008, Philip Morris International sells cigarettes and reduced-risk products, including heatsticks, vapes, and oral nicotine offerings primarily outside of the US. With the 2022 acquisition of Swedish Match, a leading manufacturer of traditional oral tobacco products and nicotine pouches primarily in the US and Scandinavia, PMI has not only diversified away from smokeable products but also gained a toehold into the US to sell its iQOS heatsticks.