S-A adds to Explorer line

By Susan Rush
from CED Broadband Direct, August 6, 2002

Scientific-Atlanta is moving full speed ahead in the home gateway market with the introduction of its latest Explorer set-top, the 4200.

The Explorer 4200 home gateway is designed to handle wired and wireless links to televisions, PCs, PDAs, phones and other Internet appliances. The internal DOCSIS modem, graphics and memory interface enable the delivery of on-demand television, Web browsing and t-commerce. The use of a DOCSIS pipe enables users to access network data faster than they were able to using earlier versions of Explorer set-tops.

The 4200 has two USB ports and an Ethernet port.

The set-tops are slated to begin shipping to cable operators next month, and will replace the retiring Explorer 4100 home gateway. The 4100 made its debut in May 2001 and had two tuners and a DOCSIS modem.

In July, S-A posted fourth-quarter sales of $390.1 million, down $229.5 million from the same period a year ago. A Q4 net loss of $15.7 million, or 10 cents a share, was reported. In the same quarter a year earlier, S-A reported net income of $73.4 million, or 44 cents a share.

Part of S-A's problems stemmed from Adelphia's bankruptcy. S-A de-booked $199.8 million in orders from Adelphia. The two companies have however reached an agreement that they will do business in the future, S-A said. The company shipped 805,000 Explorer set-tops during the quarter.