Cisco Live 2026: Catalyst 9550 core and more 9350 smart switches

Cisco used Cisco Live US in Las Vegas in June 2026 to refresh its campus portfolio from core to access. The headline product is the Catalyst 9550, a fixed-form core switch that succeeds the 9500H and brings 400G to the campus. According to heise's report of 4 June, it offers up to 6.4 Tbps of full-duplex switching capacity on Cisco Silicon One E100 and E104 ASICs. The top model, the C9550-96L4D, has 96 ports of 50G and four of 400G in two rack units and supports StackWise Virtual. Routing scale rises to about one million IPv4 routes and 128,000 MAC addresses on that model, roughly eight times the predecessor, and an optional x86 module adds CPU, memory and SSD for hosted containers. BGP-EVPN is in the hardware but not active at purchase; EVPN/VXLAN fabric support is planned.

At the access layer, the Catalyst 9350 smart switches announced in 2025 gained multigigabit models. The C9350-48HX has a PoE budget of 4,320 W, enough for 90 W on all 48 copper ports, and up to eight switches can be stacked over dedicated ports at up to 1.6 Tbps. Both the 9350 and the 9550 can be managed on premises or from the cloud under a single licensing model, and both support TrustSec segmentation with VXLAN and MACsec.

Management and security

The management story is Cisco Cloud Control, a single console that brings together Meraki, Catalyst, Nexus, security management and other tools. Dell'Oro Group noted on 22 June that it was in controlled availability in the US, and that through it customers reach Meraki Dashboard and, via the dashboard, Catalyst Center. Dell'Oro also observed that having Meraki Dashboard, AI Canvas and Cloud Control side by side may add to the complexity customers already complain about. Cisco Live Protect, which applies compensating controls for known vulnerabilities before a patch is installed, was extended to the new smart switches with general availability set for September 2026. Wireless gained the CW9177, an outdoor Wi-Fi 7 access point.

The launch lands in a strong but more expensive market. In February Cisco said it had already announced price increases to cover memory costs, and an analyst on that call described Catalyst 9000, Wi-Fi 7 and smart-switch products as ramping faster than earlier launches, helped by end of support on older Catalyst and Nexus lines.

What it means for buyers

If you are replacing Catalyst 9500H or older core switches, ask for the 9550 alongside the 9500X and compare port mix, route scale and lead time, and note that EVPN fabrics will need a later software release. For access refreshes, specify 9350 models by PoE budget and multigigabit port count rather than by family name, and decide early whether licences will be bought for on-premises or cloud management. Check that quotations reflect current list prices, because Cisco has signalled further adjustments as component costs move. InTechnologies can quote Catalyst 9350 and 9550 switches with the matching licences.