UPDATE 2-NetApp CEO sees revenue up 15-20 percent in '09

(Adds CEO, COO comments, bylines; dateline SAN FRANCISCO)

By Philipp Gollner and Jim Finkle

SAN FRANCISCO/BOSTON, March 11 (Reuters) - Data storage equipment maker NetApp Inc (NTAP.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it expects fiscal 2009 revenue to climb 15 percent to 20 percent from the prior fiscal year, in line with analysts' expectations.

Chief Executive Dan Warmenhoven said at a company analyst meeting that he expects NetApp to outperform the overall market, which he estimated will grow by 5 percent to 7 percent during the period. NetApp's fiscal 2009 begins April 28, 2008.

Analysts, on average, have been expecting revenue of $3.9 billion, according to Reuters Estimates, or a 17.7 percent increase from their forecast of $3.3 billion for fiscal 2008.

NetApp executives told analysts the company plans to hire about 1,200 to 1,300 people in the next year as it tries to sell more products and services in fast-growing new markets as well as to existing customers. NetApp had about 7,120 employees at the end of January.

"We have a vast under-tapped market out there," Chief Operating Officer Tom Georgens told Reuters in an interview. "We could drive our growth at a much higher rate."

NetApp disappointed investors in February when it forecast weaker-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $915 million to $945 million. The company blamed slowing orders by banking clients including France's Societe Generale SA (SOGN.PA: Quote, Profile, Research).

Banks had been NetApp's largest customer segment, but the company now expects the technology sector and the U.S. federal government to overtake financial services as banks cut back due to the worsening mortgage and credit crisis, Warmenhoven said.