Business Global Scene
Yahoo plans to cut several hundred jobs
Yahoo Inc is planning to announce cutbacks later this month that will
likely lead to hundreds of job losses at the nearly 14,000 employee
company, a source familiar with the plan said on Monday.
Yahoo spokeswoman Diana Wong declined to comment on a report
published on the Silicon Alley Insider blog, which on Saturday said
Yahoo has created a list of "1,500-2,500 jobs that may be eliminated in
the next two weeks."
The source said the report significantly exaggerated the scale of the
potential layoffs, the exact number of which is still being settled, but
which will be announced around the time the company reports year-end
results on January 29.
"There will be some reductions in the workforce," the source told
Reuters. "It would likely be in the hundreds."
Yahoo's workforce stood at close to 14,000 at end-2007, up around
2,600, or 23 percent, from the 11,600 employed a year earlier, according
to company filings. The company's headcount had grown 16 percent in 2006
and 29 percent in 2005.
The source said Yahoo expects to end 2008 with the same number it had
going into this year - close to 14,000 - which would suggest some
selective hiring in focus areas offset by cutbacks in other businesses.
Writing on Silicon Valley Insider, former Wall Street analyst Henry
Blodget said Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang was still deciding whether
to go ahead with the layoffs - and could pull out of the plan if the
stock price rebounded.
"We believe Yahoo should reduce headcount by at least a thousand
people," Blodget said, noting that for months, Sanford C. Bernstein
analyst Jeffrey Lindsay has called on Yahoo to make steep job cuts of
15-20 percent to reinvigorate the stock source said the report
significantly exaggerated the scale of the potential layoffs, the exact
number of which is still being settled, but which will be announced
around the time the company reports year-end results on January 29.
"There will be some reductions in the workforce," the source told
Reuters. "It would likely be in the hundreds."
Yahoo's workforce stood at close to 14,000 at end-2007, up around
2,600, or 23 percent, from the 11,600 employed a year earlier, according
to company filings. The company's headcount had grown 16 percent in 2006
and 29 percent in 2005.
The source said Yahoo expects to end 2008 with the same number it had
going into this year - close to 14,000 - which would suggest some
selective hiring in focus areas offset by cutbacks in other businesses.
Writing on Silicon Valley Insider, former Wall Street analyst Henry
Blodget said Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang was still deciding whether
to go ahead with the layoffs - and could pull out of the plan if the
stock price rebounded.
"We believe Yahoo should reduce headcount by at least a thousand
people," Blodget said, noting that for months, Sanford C. Bernstein
analyst Jeffrey Lindsay has called on Yahoo to make steep job cuts of
15-20 percent to reinvigorate the stock.
Reuters
Comcast, Panasonic launch portable digital video player
Comcast (CMCSA.O: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest U.S. cable
operator, and consumer electronics maker Matsushita Electric
Industrial's (6752.T: Quote, Profile, Research) Panasonic unit will
launch a co-branded portable digital video player that can show videos
like Apple's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) iPod and record shows
from any U.S. cable operator's system.
The AnyPlay device is the first of a range of new electronic devices
based on technology developed jointly by the cable industry and consumer
electronics makers intended to increase interoperability among cable
operators - and increase their threat to satellite TV rivals.
AnyPlay can record up to 60 hours of video and plays DVDs and CDs. It
also features an 8.5-inch display screen. The device will be unveiled on
Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
Comcast Chief Executive Brian Roberts told Reuters ahead of the show
that the industry had been working on the technology standard for
several years and now plans to roll it out across the United States this
year.
"We knew we needed an open, national and interoperable structure
between cable companies," said Roberts, who is also chair of industry
technology trade body Cable Labs.
Cable companies have faced increasing competition for video
subscribers from both satellite pay-TV companies such as DIRECTV Group
DTV.O and EchoStar Communications Corp (DISH.O: Quote, Profile,
Research) as well as nascent video services from phone companies such as
AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Verizon Communications (VZ.N:
Quote, Profile, Research).
(Reuters)
Microsoft won't launch iPhone rival
Microsoft will not launch a product that competes directly with
Apple's (AAPL.O: Quote, Profile, Research) iPhone, Chairman Bill Gates
said in an interview with Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
"No, we won't do that. In the so-called smart phone business we will
concentrate solely on software with our Windows Mobile program," Gates
was quoted as saying in the interview published on Wednesday.
"We have partnerships with a lot of device manufacturers from Samsung
Quote, Profile, to Motorola and this variety brings us significantly
more than if we would make our own mobile phone," he added.
Apple's iPhone, which also plays music and lets users browse the
internet, has been a big hit.
Reuters |