Revenue in the same period fell to $118 million from $158 million. Although DragonWave did not discuss individual customers in the release, in fiscal 2011 it had struggled to diversify its customer base after its chief customer, Clearwire, slowed a network buildout, substantially altering DragonWave's fortunes.
Still, the high-capacity microwave provider did pick up a few new customers, including a United States backhaul provider and two rural network providers in March. It also opened a joint venture in India and acquired eight new customers on a takeover of Axerra Networks in 2010.
DragonWave forecast revenue of $15 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2012, but did not provide guidance beyond that; in recent quarters, chief executive Peter Allen has repeatedly said the firm is in an "air pocket" as it reaches out to new customers and thus cannot make long-term predictions for the time being.
"We made progress this quarter to broaden our global market presence to address the burgeoning growth of data traffic for mobile operators," stated Mr. Allen.
"We are actively engaged and well positioned with a number of major mobile operators in different geographies throughout the world and are working to expand channels and actively pursuing opportunities to make acquisitions."
DragonWave posted a net loss in the fourth quarter of $8.9 million or $0.25 per diluted share compared with, in Q4 2010, a net income of $12.8 million or $0.34 per diluted share.
Gross margin in Q4 was 29 per cent compared with 43 per cent last year.
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