Aviat Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: AVNW) announced its Q1 earnings on Monday and revealed it would be selling off its WiMAX business after months of downplaying it.
The firm says it is now actively seeking a buyer for the WiMAX division, presumably in order to focus on its microwave business and selling backhaul gear.
“the decision to sell our WiMAX business will enable the company to further focus and invest in our core wireless transmission business and position the company for long-term growth,” said Aviat’s chairman and CEO Chuck Kissner.
Aviat declared its net loss from continuing WiMAX operations at $25.5 million, up from the net loss of $22.5 million it reported in the previous year.
Kissner, who returned as CEO after the abrupt departure of Harald Braun last June, had never much liked Aviat’s foray into WiMAX, vocally declaring his belief that Aviat was taking on too many businesses, leaving its core microwave business to suffer.
“The original concept was to take our strength in backhaul and build from it, but the problem was that you had to maintain our strength in backhaul to do it,” Kissner said back in February after his return. “We took our eyes off the ball,” he added.
Braun had bought into WiMAX in 2009 when Aviat – then Harris Stratex – bought WiMAX base station vendor Telsima for $12 million. At the time, Braun had hoped to turn Aviat into an end-to-end networks supplier, rather than just a microwave backhaul vendor, something he compounded by adding an access service network (ASN) gateway and a network management platform to the firm’s portfolio.
Despite initial WiMAX success in India, however, the business never really took off, and a returning Kissner felt the dilution of Aviat’s focus was to the detriment of the firm. After Braun’s departure, Kissner de-emphasized the WiMAX business almost immediately, though he did promise to continue supporting and selling the products.
This is now no longer the case and starting in the third quarter, the WiMAX business is classified as a discontinued operation and presented separately from Aviat’s other business units.
“We believe we did very well in meeting our customer commitments and now are seeing increased customer activity,” said Kissner adding, “with the cost reductions on target for Q4, and with the introduction of new products, systems and processes, we are prepared to move Aviat Networks forward again.”
