Harmonic Inc. reported Q4 net sales of $86.7 million, down compared with the $96.9 million tallied in the fourth quarter of last year, but an improvement from the immediately prior third quarter, when the company brought in $83.9 million.

President and CEO Patrick Harshman said the sequential improvement was “driven by improving demand across our expanding global customer base and by the success of our newest products.”

Further encouragement that the trend in growing sales may likely continue comes from booking numbers. Harmonic said total bookings in the fourth quarter of 2009 were $107.6 million, up from $79.9 million in the third quarter.

Net income in Q4 was a modest $47,000, compared with a $13.2 million profit for the similar period of 2008.

For the full-year 2009, the company reported a net loss of $24.1 million, compared with 2008 net income of $64 million.

“Moving into 2010,” Harshman said, “we plan to continue to extend our global reach, strengthen our technology leadership and introduce powerful new solutions for a growing array of new video applications. Although our customers face continued global economic uncertainty, and we anticipate the usual seasonal slowdown in first quarter bookings, we expect to continue to grow our revenue and earnings throughout the year.”

Harmonic anticipates that net sales for the first half of 2010 will be in a range of $170 million to $180 million.

The company also announced that CFO Robin Dickson has announced plans to retire. Dickson is set to remain with the company until his replacement is hired.