Juniper Networks disappointed the market yesterday. Their stock fell as much as 9.3 percent in late trading after they announced their 1st qtr earnings.

According to Businessweek report yesterday, Juniper is losing customers fast to Juniper.

“The disappointment continues at Juniper,” Makris said in an interview. The New York-based analyst has a “neutral” rating on the stock.

While consumers have flocked to mobile devices like smartphones and tablets, network upgrades may lag behind because they can take years to plan and cost billions of dollars.

Juniper controls 18 percent of the market for Internet providers’ routers and switches, the technologies that shuttle and steer data traffic around networks, according to telecommunications consulting firm ACG Research. Cisco, the industry leader, commands more than 50 percent.

“The guidance is disappointing,” Makris said. “The gross margin guidance is very disconcerting.”

Juniper may have ceded some market share as it focuses on building new products, Chief Executive Officer Kevin Johnson said, calling it a “short-term” issue. He said on a conference call that some financial-services firms delayed orders in the fourth quarter, while spending by the U.S. federal government was “very strong.”

Juniper has always focused on product leadership and my guess is that this financial result shortfall is related to new product development. Juniper has had good vision on the mobile market, security, and service providers. This vision makes me optimistic that this Juniper shortfall is not as gloomy as people on wall street think.

The big question did Juniper’s lack of overall execution give Cisco a chance to catchup in product leadership. Cisco has been showing gains on their UCS products.

Competition will bring out the best in Juniper or kill them.

We’ll see.