Cisco Serial Number Analyis in Detail

In this article you will find a detailed analysis of the serial numbers of your Cisco devices. This allows you to learn where and when your device was manufactured with the Cisco serial number.

Cisco Serial Number Format

The common serial number format in Cisco is:

LLLYYHHXXX

Now let’s explain these letters one by one:

LLL: Company and Country (Location) Codes:

Indicates which company produced the device and where. Below you will find the relevant companies and locations:

CTH – Celestica – Thailand
FOC – Foxconn – Shenzhen, China
JAB – Jabil – Florida, United States
JPE – Jabil – Malaysia
JSH – Jabil in Shanghai, China
TAU – Solectron – Texas, United States
PEN – Solectron – Malaysia

YY: Year Codes

This two-digit code indicates the year of manufacture. There is a nuance that needs attention. To find the year of manufacture, you must add 1996 to the specified number. For example, if it says 20, the device was manufactured in 20 + 1996 = 2016.

Below you will find code and year information for your convenience:

01 = 1997
02 = 1998
03 = 1999
04 = 2000
05 = 2001
06 = 2002
07 = 2003
08 = 2004
09 = 2005
10 = 2006
11 = 2007
12 = 2008
13 = 2009
14 = 2010
15 = 2011
16 = 2012
17 = 2013
18 = 2014
19 = 2015
20 = 2016
21 = 2017
22 = 2018
23 = 2019

HH: Week Codes

This section indicates which week of the year the device was manufactured. For convenience, you can find the week-to-month matching below:

1-5: January
6-9: February
10-14: March
15-18: April
19-22: May
23-27: June
28-31: July
32-35: August
36-40: September
41-44: October
45-48: November
49-52: December

XXXX: Serial Number

The last 4 digits are the device-specific serial number. 0-9 and A-Z (except for I and O). With these 4 digits, approximately 1.3 million combinations can be produced.

An Example: FOC18240VLV