Encoder market Harmonic grew revenues 18% in the fourth quarter of 2006, up to $75.3 million, since the fourth quarter of 2005.
Harmonic said it saw increased demand from domestic cable and new international telco and satellite customers. For the full year 2006, the company reported net sales of $247.7 million, slightly down on its $257.4 million in 2005, but that included a lot of low margin sales of access products which it no longer focuses on.
Net income for the fourth quarter was $5.0 million compared to a loss of $2.0 million in 2005 despite a $2.9 million charge for restructuring and asset impairment this time. For the full year net income was considerably lower at $1 million, which means that Harmonic turned it all around in the last quarter.
Harmonic says it anticipates net sales for the first half of 2007 to be in a range of $135 to $145 million.
The company also announced MPEG 4 encoder deals at Hong Kong’s PCCW, the largest IPTV operator in the world, as it shifts from MPEG2 to MPEG 4 across its entire IPTV offering.
Harmonic also announced this week that NTV-Plus, a direct-to-home satellite service provider in Russia and the Ukraine, with more than 550,000 subscribers, has deployed Harmonic’s DiviCom Electra 7000 high definition MPEG-4 encoders, for its new HD service.