About Us

These industrial trends also include the introduction of new video services for cell phones and other hand-held devices; the plans of Internet service companies to provide video services and enable the downloading of video content to personal computers and portable video devices; and regulatory reform which has spurred competition among service providers worldwide to offer combinations of video, voice and data services.

Growth Opportunities in Multiple Markets

Cable

Harmonic has been helping cable operators upgrade and rebuild their networks to offer digital video in order to compete with telco and DBS providers, and create additional revenue streams. Digital upgrades allow cable operators to provide more channels and better picture quality than analog video, and to roll out HDTV and new interactive services such as VOD, high-speed Internet service, residential telephony and business services. VOD services require video storage complemented by devices capable of routing, multiplexing and modulation for delivering signals to individual subscribers over a cable network. HDTV channels require much more bandwidth than the equivalent number of standard definition channels. As these new services continue to attract increasing numbers of subscribers, cable operators have begun to upgrade headends with “digital simulcasting,” the first step in the transition to an all-digital network.

Satellite

Harmonic has been helping satellite operators worldwide to establish digital television services that serve millions of subscribers and are capable of providing several hundred channels of high quality video. DBS services operate mostly in a one-way environment, with signals transmitted from an uplink center to a satellite and then beamed to dishes located at subscribers’ homes. As cable operators expand the number of channels offered and introduce services such as VOD and HDTV, DBS providers are seeking to protect and expand their subscriber base. However, these efforts pose significant bandwidth challenges and are expected to require further capital expenditures by DBS operators. Advances in digital compression technology allow DBS operators to cost-effectively add new channels and further expand their HDTV channels.

Telco

Harmonic has begun helping telco operators face the increasing competition from cable operators. As cable companies deliver video, as well as capture data and voice customers, many telcos have added, or are planning to add, video services as a competitive response. Yet their legacy networks present a significant barrier to providing video services. Improvements in video compression technology and DSL technology have allowed telco operators to introduce multi-channel video-over-DSL services, also known as IPTV. Many major telcos worldwide are now implementing plans to rebuild or upgrade their networks to offer bundled video, voice and data services.

Harmonic also offers solutions for other video-related markets. It helps terrestrial broadcasters worldwide to convert from analog to digital transmission in order to free up spectrum and deliver new services, such as HDTV and data transmission. In addition, a variety of wireless operators are also planning to roll out new mobile video services in coming years, which may offer new market opportunities for Harmonic.

Products and Services

To address these evolving opportunities in different markets, Harmonic offers a variety of industry-leading video processing, edge and access and software products.

Video Processing Products provide operators with the ability to accept a variety of signals from different sources, in different protocols, and to organize, manage and distribute the content to maximize use of the available bandwidth. Harmonic’s full line of high-performance encoders provides compression of video, audio and data channels. Its different encoders are designed to function with MPEG-2 and new MPEG-4 compression standards, encode both standard and high definition signals, and comply with widely adopted standards that enable interoperability with other systems. The Company’s new multi-codec encoders are capable of providing multiple video streams of the same channel in different formats and resolutions, or a variety of channels in the same format. In addition to encoders, Harmonic’s video processing products include: multiplexer/remutiplexers that combine video streams generated by encoders and other system components into a single transport stream; network gateways can manage a variety of digital video streams without expensive decoding and re-encoding; and integrated receiver-decoders products that can acquire content from terrestrial and satellite broadcasters for distribution in both standard and high definition formats.

Edge and Access Products enable operators to deliver customized broadcast or narrowcast on-demand services to their subscribers. The Narrowcast Services Gateway (NSG) interfaces with the output from a video server and integrates routing, multiplexing and modulation into a single package for the delivery of VOD services to subscribers. The NSG is usually supplied with Gigabit Ethernet inputs, allowing the operator to use bandwidth efficiently by delivering IP signals from the headend to the edge of the network. The Company’s optical products allow operators to deliver video, data and voice services over fiber optic networks. This includes: a range of optical transmitters and amplifiers for long-haul and local distribution and for program narrowcasting; dense wave division multiplexing systems to expand the capacity of a single fiber strand and provide narrowcast services directly from the headend to nodes; optical nodes to support varying demands for bandwidth and configurable to easily handle increasing two-way traffic without major network upgrades; and commercial services solutions to provide high-speed services to business customers or multiple-dwelling units.

Software Products include the NMX Digital Service Manager, which gives service providers the ability to visually monitor their digital video infrastructure at an aggregate level and reduce operational costs. The NETWatch Management System enables the operator to monitor and control the network from a master headend or from remote locations. Harmonic also offers software-based solutions that work in conjunction with its hardware, including solutions for high-quality digital storage of real-time broadcasts for on-demand services, and for allowing the presentation of on-screen mosaics with several channels tiled within a single video stream.

Technical Services. Harmonic provides consulting, implementation and maintenance services to its customers worldwide. The Company draws upon its expertise in broadcast television, communications networking and compression technology to design, integrate and install complete solutions for its customers.

Revenue Mix

Our investor relations pages contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act. Such statements relate to, among other things, anticipated revenues, net income, earnings, capital expenditures, and product development, and typically are denoted by words or phrases such as "expects," "anticipates," "continuing," and "on-going." Investors are cautioned that all forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and various factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in the forward-looking statements.

Please refer to our reports and filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, for a further discussion of these risks and uncertainties. Visitors to our web site are further cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, events or circumstances after the date they were made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

< Prev | Next > | View All

< Prev | View All