Cisco Systems Inc reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results thanks to a pick-up in the global economy and growing Internet use, and CEO John Chambers said it was gaining market share.

The world's biggest maker of routers and switches said on Wednesday its revenue in the fiscal third quarter through May 1 rose 27 percent to $10.4 billion from $8.2 billion a year ago.

Analysts on average had expected $10.2 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. The company in February had forecast a 23-26 percent year-on-year rise.

We emerge from this downturn gaining market share, a larger share of the total wallet spend of our customers, Chambers said in a statement. It is clear that our game plan for how to handle economic downturns is hitting on all cylinders.

Quarterly profit rose to $2.2 billion, or 37 cents per share, compared with $1.3 billion, or 23 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items, it earned 42 cents per share -- higher than Wall Street's forecast for 39 cents per share.

The results underscore Cisco's continued recovery from the technology downturn of 2009. Despite initial fears of a 2001-style freeze in corporate spending, recent results show companies have been quick to resume investment in Cisco's products like routers and switches.

(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Richard Chang)

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