Thomson has reported disappointing Q4 revenues within its Systems Division as revenues for both satellite and telecoms Access products fell. This coupled with a disappointing end to the year for Broadcast & Networks that combined with currency movements reduced revenues to €765 million from €849 million in the final quarter of 2006.
The high spot was an increase in revenues from the cable sector, the result of an improved product mix, and led by the US cablenet Comcast. Combined with similar success for Pace Micro Technology this indicates a further loosening of the grip previously held by Scientific-Atlanta/Cisco and Motorola.
Satellite shipments to the US DirecTV fell back, but were compensated in part by the shift to HD and DVR products.
In the fourth quarter Thomson shipped 2.8 million satellite set-top boxes (Q4 06 2.9 million), 0.7 million cable set-top boxes (0.9 million), and 3.4 million access products for telecom operators (3.4 million) making a total of 6.9 million in the quarter (7.2 million).
