SiliconBeat

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 »

Hard-disk drive maker Seagate Technology went on the record this morning that it was lowering the sales range it forecast in October for its current quarter by about 17 percent to $2.3-$2.6 billion, down from its previous forecast of $2.85-$3.05 billion.

The company said it is “accelerating its on-going plans to rationalize production capacity and improve its overall cost structure.” Layoffs, anyone? More information about its plans won’t be available before mid-January. The company stressed that “the demand and pricing environment during the remainder of the month of December will be critical in determining the Company’s operating results for its second fiscal quarter of 2009.”

Seagate, which is based in the Cayman Islands with U.S. operations in Scotts Valley, made the revelation prior to a presentation its executives were to give this morning before the Barclays 2008 Global Technology Conference.

Seagate shares closed up 40 cents, or 7.9 percent, to $5.49 Wednesday.

Seagate Technology, the disk drive manufacturer based in the Cayman Islands with operations in Scotts Valley, said Wednesday it will move trading in its shares from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq market as of Sept. 16, according to a press release the company put out Wednesday.

“We are delighted to make the move to the NASDAQ and look forward to leveraging their impressive trading platform to reach investors in key markets around the world,” said Bill Watkins, Seagate CEO. “With this move we are ensuring that our investors have access to fast, high-quality trades in a more cost-effective structure for Seagate. We look forward to joining the impressive group of leading technology companies already listed on the NASDAQ.”

The company will retain its current ticker symbol — STX — rather than switch to the more-usual four-lettered symbols had by most companies trading on Nasdaq.

Disk-drive maker Seagate Technology said it will spend $21 million to give severance to about 570 employees who will lose their jobs when it closes its media manufacturing facility in Milpitas as of Oct. 3, according to a filing with the SEC today. That works out to an average of $36,800 per employee, were all employees equal. Obviously, final results will vary. The layoffs represent about 1 percent of Seagate’s global workforce

Seagate, which maintains U.S. headquarters in Scotts Valley but is based in the Cayman Islands, estimates the move will cost it Read the rest of this entry »