16. Segment Information and Major Customers

(a) Net Sales and Gross Margin by Segment

The Company conducts business globally and is primarily managed on a geographic basis consisting of three segments: the Americas; EMEA; and APJC. In fiscal 2011, the Company had been organized into the following four segments: United States and Canada, European Markets, Emerging Markets, and Asia Pacific Markets. As a result of this segment change effective in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, countries within the former Emerging Markets segment were consolidated into either EMEA or the Americas segment depending on their respective geographic locations. The Company has reclassified the segment data for the prior period to conform to the current year’s presentation.

The Company’s management makes financial decisions and allocates resources based on the information it receives from its internal management system. Sales are attributed to a segment based on the ordering location of the customer. The Company does not allocate research and development, sales and marketing, or general and administrative expenses to its segments in this internal management system because management does not include the information in its measurement of the performance of the operating segments. In addition, the Company does not allocate amortization of acquisition-related intangible assets, share-based compensation expense, charges related to asset impairments and restructurings, and certain other charges to the gross margin for each segment because management does not include this information in its measurement of the performance of the operating segments. Summarized financial information by segment for fiscal 2012, 2011, and 2010, based on the Company’s internal management system and as utilized by the Company’s Chief Operating Decision Maker (“CODM”), is as follows (in millions):


Years Ended	July 28, 2012			July 30, 2011			July 31, 2010
Net sales:
Americas	$	26,501		$	25,015		$	23,334
EMEA		12,075			11,604			10,825
APJC		7,485			6,599			5,881

Total	$	46,061		$	43,218		$	40,040

Gross margin:
Americas		16,639			15,766			15,042
EMEA		7,605			7,452			7,235
APJC		4,519			4,143			3,842

Segment total		28,763			27,361			26,119

Unallocated corporate items		(554	)		(825	)		(476	)

Total	$	28,209		$	26,536		$	25,643

Net sales in the United States, which is included in the Americas, were $22.6 billion, $21.5 billion, and $20.4 billion for fiscal 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively.

(b) Net Sales for Groups of Similar Products and Services

The Company designs, manufactures, and sells Internet Protocol (“IP”)-based networking and other products related to the communications and IT industry and provides services associated with these products and their use. The Company formerly grouped its products and technologies into categories of Switches, Routers, New Products, and Other. Effective in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, the Company recategorized its products and technologies into the following categories: Switching, NGN Routing, Collaboration, Service Provider Video, Wireless, Security, Data Center, and Other Products. These products, primarily integrated by Cisco IOS Software, link geographically dispersed local-area networks (“LANs”), metropolitan-area networks (“MANs”), and wide-area networks (“WANs”). The Company has reclassified the prior periods to conform to the current year’s presentation.

The following table presents net sales for groups of similar products and services (in millions):


Years Ended	July 28, 2012		July 30, 2011		July 31, 2010
Net sales:
Switching	$	14,531	$	14,130	$	14,074
NGN Routing		8,425		8,264		7,868
Collaboration		4,139		4,013		2,981
Service Provider Video		3,858		3,483		3,294
Wireless		1,699		1,427		1,134
Security		1,349		1,200		1,302
Data Center		1,298		694		196
Other		1,027		1,315		1,571

Product		36,326		34,526		32,420
Service		9,735		8,692		7,620

Total	$	46,061	$	43,218	$	40,040

(c) Additional Segment Information

The majority of the Company’s assets, excluding cash and cash equivalents and investments, as of July 28, 2012 and July 30, 2011 were attributable to its U.S. operations. The Company’s total cash and cash equivalents and investments held by various foreign subsidiaries were $42.5 billion and $39.8 billion as of July 28, 2012 and July 30, 2011, respectively, and the remaining $6.2 billion and $4.8 billion at the respective fiscal year ends was available in the United States. In fiscal 2012, 2011, and 2010, no single customer accounted for 10% or more of the Company’s net sales.

Property and equipment information is based on the physical location of the assets. The following table presents property and equipment information for geographic areas (in millions):


	July 28, 2012		July 30, 2011		July 31, 2010
Property and equipment, net:
United States	$	2,842	$	3,284	$	3,283
International		560		632		658

Total	$	3,402	$	3,916	$	3,941