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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

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