Cisco Systems Inc. Chief Executive John Chambers identified Huawei Technologies Co. as its toughest rival, stating that the Chinese company doesn’t always “play by the rules” in areas such as intellectual property protection and computer security.
Mr. Chambers, who was responding to a question at a Wall Street Journal event, didn’t cite any specific actions by Huawei, which competes with Cisco in sales of networking equipment. But he suggested that, by contrast, Cisco is considered trustworthy by governments around the world.