Revenue for the third quarter of fiscal year 2001, ended March 31, 2001 was $9.4 million, a 43% decline over the $16.4 in revenue in the prior quarter. The net loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2001 was $14.1 million, a 93% increase, compared to a net loss of $7.3 million for the prior quarter. The loss per share in the third quarter of fiscal 2001 was $ 0.31, compared to $ 0.16 in the prior quarter.
The general downturn in global economic conditions greatly affected our third quarter performance. Customers, regardless of size, are being extremely cautious of their spending and it has impacted all areas of the data-storage business. We are seeing a significant slow down of orders and a general tightening of capital spending by all of our customers. Orders that would have been included in our quarterly pipeline/forecast are now being pushed out 2-4 months or are being placed indefinitely on hold until economic conditions improve, said Gary J. Sbona, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. The rapid changes in market and economic conditions could not have come at a more inappropriate time for us based upon where we are in the cycle of rebuilding our product line and regenerating our company. We were relying primarily on existing customers to fill our projected orders, and they did not materialize. We continue to focus on our market opportunity and maintain our commitment to developing quality products and improving our competitive position. We have a stable and dedicated workforce, highly experienced, proven management team and the financial ability to continue to improve our company and make it through the difficult economic conditions of the next year. In addition, we have reduced our discretionary programs and tightened up our spending in all functional areas, while we ride out the current adverse economic conditions.
Going forward, we continue to feel very positive about our new products, the NS3000 series, from the direct responses from our early BETA customers and independent industry analysts. The feedback indicates that when we complete our product roadmap, according to our scheduled release dates, we will be a strong competitor in the NAS data-storage industry. The initial new products will be released at the end of this quarter. We anticipate that when the economy improves, customer demand should return and these products should generate revenue in subsequent quarters. Until such time, we believe it to be imprudent to give forward quarterly guidance, added Sbona.
