5:15 PM -- There don't seem to be any rumors about who the next heir apparent at Cisco Systems Inc. (Nasdaq: CSCO) is, now that Charles Giancarlo bailed. (See Giancarlo Quits Cisco, Paddles to Silver Lake.)

Possible reasons?

Chambers admits multiple people will be groomed for possible advancement, and that brings up something analyst Bill Choi at Jefferies & Company Inc. pointed out. It's not a rumor, just an observation.

Look at the seven-person development council formed this month. There's a new slot for consumer products, an area where Cisco hasn't fully defined its goals. It's being run by Ned Hooper. He's been handling M&A and was profiled in Business Week in April.

Reportedly, Chambers is saying Hooper is one of those being singled out for grooming -- in the executive sense, not the Head & Shoulders sense.

Maybe Hooper's is a name to watch.

— Craig Matsumoto, West Coast Editor, Light Reading