Ihab Abu-Hakima, the president and CEO of wireless upstart Meru Networks, plans to leave the company within six months, Meru said Thursday.
"I feel I have achieved my personal and corporate goals, and given the strong momentum at Meru, now is the right time to transition to a new CEO to drive the company to the next level," Abu-Hakima said in a statement.
Abu-Hakima will assist Meru's Board of Directors to identify his successor, he said, and also continue to actively lead Meru during the search. Before Meru, Abu-Hakima was a senior vice president at Proxim, and previously, he served a number of executive positions at Western Multiplex, Silicon Graphics Computer Systems, HP and Bechtel.
Nine-year-old Meru became a public company in 2010, and has staked much of its growth on channel sales of its virtualized 802.11n wireless technology.
Its presence among channel partners in the cutthroat wireless space has continued to grow, and it has added a number of new executives in recent months, including Carl Gustin, its new chief marketing officer, and new VPs of market development, communications, and research.
Meru also recently acquired Identity Networks, a specialist in secure guest and device access management.
Along with the transition announcement, Meru reported that third quarter revenues would be in the range of $23.2 to $23.7 million -- above Meru's previous Q3 guidance of $22-$24 million. Meru will take a greater-than-expected loss however, thanks to expenses from the Identity acquisition.
"We are very pleased to deliver another strong quarter, driving our quarterly revenues to our highest level ever," Abu-Hakima said. "In addition, we continue to see broad-based strength across our target markets, which we believe is further evidence of the demand for our network in control wireless LAN solution."
Meru's stock has continued to struggle. On Tuesday, shares of Meru stock traded at a 52-week low of $7.02.
