10 of the Days Before Christmas Hit $1 Billion in Online Spending

For the second straight year, Cyber Monday was the biggest online shopping day of the year, hitting $1.25 billion in the U.S.
e-commerce_art

Voices

How Bad Is Semi Equipment Demand? Ask FSI International.

FSI International is now a company that almost no one follows. But the latest results from the tiny Minneapolis-based semiconductor equipment firm offer a sobering snapshot of conditions in the industry.

National Semi Chips Away at Workforce

National Semi to Workforce: "What Color is Your Parachute?"

To see just how badly the continuing erosion of consumer confidence is affecting the chip industry, one need only look at the pitiable state of National Semiconductor. After announcing third-quarter revenues that were down 31 percent from the previous quarter and 36 percent from the same period a year earlier, the company said today it would sack more than a quarter of its workforce.
largest-axe3jpg

National Semi to Workforce: “What Color is Your Parachute?”

To see just how badly the continuing erosion of consumer confidence is affecting the chip industry, one need only look at the pitiable state of National Semiconductor. After announcing third-quarter revenues that were down 31 percent from the previous quarter and 36 percent from the same period a year earlier, the company said today it would sack more than a quarter of its workforce.
largest-axe3jpg

Voices

Bernstein Downgrades Amazon, eBay on Macro Concerns

Bernstein analyst Jeffrey Lindsay has cut his ratings on both Amazon and eBay, noting that the large majority of goods on both sites are discretionary purchases, and that–of course–the current environment has people focusing more on worries about unemployment and home foreclosure than spending money on nonessential goods.

Voices

Online Xmas Spending: So Far, Not So Good

You will not be shocked to learn that online holiday spending is not off to a good start. ComScore today reports that for the first 23 days of November, e-commerce spending–excluding travel, auctions and large corporate purchases–was down four percent from the same period last year. 2007 saw a 19 percent rise in spending–all predictions point to this year being flat. It’s going to be a long winter.

Voices

Corning to Cut Wholly Owned Glass Capacity 30-40 Percent

Corning will cut the production capacity of its glass business by 30-40 percent due to a lack of demand in the LCD television market. It wasn’t until after Labor Day that the decline reached the sector, though fears about the economy have been growing all year.

Analyst: The Great Dark Times Cometh!

The financial markets’ descent into the maelstrom over the past several weeks is proving quite a test of faith for Collins Stewart analyst Sandeep Aggarwal. Last week he cut his estimates for Yahoo, citing the company’s deteriorating fundamentals. Since then he’s become increasingly dismayed by Wall Street’s continued collapse.

Voices

Nokia Tumbles, Warns It Will Lose Share in Q3; Other Handset Stocks Also Lower

Nokia (NOK) this morning warned that it now expects its mobile device market share in the third quarter to be down from the second quarter. The company had previously said it expected its share of the market to be sequentially flat.