Network Appliance posted fairly remarkable results in its third quarter, increasing sales well beyond marks set by other hardware vendors.

NetApp pulled in $297 million in the period - a 30 per cent increase over the $229 million posted in the same quarter a year ago. The data storage equipment vendor also reported net income of $40.2 million versus $19.7 million in last year's Q3. Most hardware vendors are hovering just above break even, which makes NetApp's 30 per cent growth rate stand out in a big way.

"I am extremely pleased with our performance this quarter," said a delighted Dan Warmenhoven, CEO at NetApp. "Our results this quarter mark the return to our target business model, and we remain confident about the market opportunity ahead of us."

The big gains for NetApp came from good old-fashioned hardware. Product revenue increased to $269 million from $205 million last year. Services revenue improved to $28 million from $23 million.

Investors in the after-hours markets appeared pleased with the results, sending NetApp shares higher by nine per cent to $22.27, at the time of this report. ®