DSP Communications Inc. expects to see continued growth in 1997 and 1998, when the company may reap rewards from its new product, a wireless branch exchange system.
The company reported revenues of $88.9 million for the 12-month period ended Dec. 31, an 118 percent increase compared with the same period in 1995.
Net income for the fourth quarter was $4.6 million, or 10 cents per share, compared with a loss of $6.7 million, or 19 cents per share, in the fourth quarter 1995.
DSPC writes software for application-specific integrated circuits and digital signal processors for communications equipment. The company’s research and development center is in Israel, but its management headquarters is in Cupertino, Calif., with an office in Japan as well.
Its primary customers are Japanese original equipment phone manufacturers, for which DSPC provides baseband chipsets for Personal Digital Cellular terminals.
DSPC began shipping two new products last year. The CTPhone 1900 is a wireless private branch exchange system that operates at the 1900 MHz unlicensed frequency. DSPC acquired this product when it bought Israel-based CTP Systems Inc. in 1995. CTP’s clients include the PBX manufacturer Harris Corp., Israel Aircraft Industries, Gilat Satellite Network Ltd., Tadiran, Pacific Communications Sciences Inc., the Israeli military arm Raphael and DSC Communications.
DSPC began commercially shipping the CTPhone systems in the second half of 1996. The system was recently installed in the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City to cover 1.5 million square feet and support 1,500 users; the system can be expanded, DSPC said.
The CTPhone system includes handsets, base stations and control units. Thirty-two base stations can cover 5 million to 10 million square feet, the company said. A CTPhone system supporting the DECT standard also is available; Digital European Cordless Telecommunications service is offered primarily in Europe. CTP also provides a wireless data and Local Access Network base station that operates at 2.4 GHz unlicensed frequency.
During the fourth quarter, DSPC began shipping chipsets for Interim Standard 136 Time Division Multiple Access products.
“During the second half of 1997, we will see growth with IS-136 as it will slowly ramp up,” said Arnon Kohavi, DSPC vice president for business development.
DSPC and Japanese manufacturer NEC Corp. have jointly developed a 3-volt DSP baseband subsystem integrated circuit for TDMA IS-54B phones, and have also developed a newer chip set version of the IS-136 standard.
DSPC will begin shipping chip sets for the Code Division Multiple Access standard in first quarter 1998. Five OEMs are committed to the product, DSPC said.
“We’re coming in the second wave of CDMA chip sets. There have still been lots of changes in CDMA,” Kohavi said.
