SiliconBeat

Endwave, the San Jose provider of radio-frequency modules used to process high frequency signals in specialized telecommunication networks, is reducing its workforce by about 15 percent and will take a $1 million cash charge for associated severance payments in its current quarter. Based on the figure of Read the rest of this entry »

Actel, the Mountain View based maker of low-power and mixed-signal programmable chips, announced today “a company-wide restructuring plan that embodies a shift in corporate philosophy making profitability more important than sales growth.”

The company said it expects to incur charges of Read the rest of this entry »

Commercial property owners in Silicon Valley are facing their most inhospitable environment in two decades, according to a press release put out by Cornish & Carey Capital, the financing arm of the Santa Clara-based commercial real estate broker that is touting the launch of a new division specializing in “distressed assets.”

”For the first time since the 1980’s, owners are Read the rest of this entry »

Williams-Sonoma, the San Francisco purveyor of home products, said today it will be laying off about 1,400, or 18 percent of its staff, and closing a call center in Pennsylvania and a distribution facility in Tennessee in an effort to cut its overhead costs by $75 million.

The actions are to be completed by the end of the month and will cost about $14 million to $15 million to accomplish, mostly in severance and lease-related costs. The moves will save an estimated $60 million in 2009, and another $15 million in savings will be accomplished  in cost reductions related to catalog catalog production, supply chain operations, and information technology.

Intel said Wednesday it would restructure its manufacturing operations, halting production at five older factories. The company will also close two existing assembly test facilities in Malaysia and the Phillipines.

The chip maker said it expects the restructuring will affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees, although not all would necessarily lose their jobs as the company siad some would be offered positions at other facilities.

The move comes on top of rumors that Intel may post its first quarterly net loss in 22 years when it releases results in April for its current quarter.

Intel said that it is uncertain whether or not it will be able to report a profit for its current quarter, according to a memo its chief executive, Paul Otellini, sent to the chip makers employees last week, a copy of which was obtained by Bloomberg News Read the rest of this entry »

Seagate Technology, the disk drive manufacturer that last week said it was going to reduce its worldwide work force by about six percent, said severance costs for the approximately 2,950 employees affected by the layoffs would be about $90 million. The layoffs include a reduction of its U.S. work force of 10 percent, indicating that workers in this country are absorbing a majority of the cuts.

The company estimated that it will take a charge of about $90 million, mostly in its 2008 fourth quarter, that will consist mainly of employee termination costs.

Seagate also said it would be reducing the salaries of certain management employees beginning in February, with pay for its chief executive and other executive officers being reduced 25 percent, for its senior vice presidents by 20 percent, its vice presidents by 15 percent, and for its management, sales, supervisors and professional employees by 10 percent.

The salary cuts will save the company about $80 million, $10 million less that the cost of severance being paid out to the nearly 3,000  employees it is firing.

Super Micro Computer, the San Jose supplier of computer server systems, said sales for its quarter just ended will be from 9 percent to 14 percent lower than the company had previously forecast. Net profits per share are expected to drop anywhere from 17 percent to 27 percent, but the bottom line is still black.

Not that this is especially newsworthy given the drumbeat of lowered expectations emanating from most of Silicon Valley’s company’s of late. But a statement from chief executive Charles Liang hinted at a possible bit of good news: Read the rest of this entry »

Seagate Technology said Wednesday that it will have to take an impairment charge to write down the value of its goodwill, “largely as a result of the adverse impact of the current macroeconomic business environment on the Company’s long-term financial outlook,” according to a filing with the SEC.

In addition to the value of its goodwill — which is generally understood to represent “the value of a well-respected business name, good customer relations, high employee morale, and other such factors expected to translate into Read the rest of this entry »

This shouldn’t come as any surprise, but venture capitalists are forecasting a “difficult 2009″ for their industry and for capital markets in general, not to mention the national economy, according to a press release today from the National Venture Capital Association.

Ninety-two percent of venture capitalists surveyed by the group are predicting a Read the rest of this entry »