Cisco Systems Inc. on Wednesday posted a 46-percent drop in its profit in the most recent quarter, an indication that technology spending has not yet recovered significantly.

During Cisco's fiscal fourth quarter which ended on July 25, the world's largest networking equipment maker earned 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, compared with 2 billion dollars in the same period a year earlier.

Its revenue fell to 8.5 billion dollars, down 18 percent from the same quarter last year.

However, the company said it saw a number of positive signs in the economy and in its business in the quarter, especially sequential quarter-over-quarter order trends.

"If we continue to see these positive order trends for the next one to two quarters, we believe there is a good chance we will look back and see that the tipping point occurred in our business in the fourth quarter," John Chambers, Cisco's chief executive officer, said in a statement.

As for the current quarter which ends in October, Cisco said it expects a revenue drop of 15 percent to 17 percent year-on-year.