Dot Com News from Week of July 2, 2001

• 7/8/01 - Posted on the Coolboard.com Web site: After nearly two years of powering thousands of discussion communities, it is with great regret that we inform you that CoolBoard, a service of Centerwheel Corporation, has been discontinued effective June 29, 2001.
• 7/6/01 - Software integration firm WebMethods Inc., said it would miss Wall Street expectations for its fiscal first-quarter and cut 15 percent of its staff, citing economic pressure in the United States and Europe. Job cuts -- which will primarily affect the firm's services and consulting business with some reductions in U.S sales headcount -- would be completed by the close of business on July 6. About 160 workers will lose their jobs.
• 7/6/01 - AOL Time Warner Inc. is gearing up to close its U.S.-based Warner Bros. Studio Stores by the end of October, shedding another 3,800 jobs, after failing to find a buyer for the languishing chain. In January, after completing the $106.2 billion deal combining America Online and Time Warner Inc., AOL Time Warner said it would look for a buyer for the retail unit, which sells merchandise carrying many of Warner Bros.' famous characters such as Bugs Bunny and Harry Potter. The company warned that if that hunt proved unsuccessful it would shut down the stores.
• 7/6/01 - Bristol Retail Solutions Inc. announced today that it has voluntarily filed for protection under Chapter 11, of the Federal Bankruptcy code. Bristol is a wholly owned subsidiary of VoiceFlash Networks Inc. VoiceFlash recently acquired Bristol Retail Solutions Inc. as an essential component for the company's proprietary wireless consumer payment network, which is being developed utilizing the Blue Tooth wireless platform.
• 7/5/01 - Networking equipment maker Interphase Corp. is sacking about one-quarter of its workforce to deal with a decline in orders caused by the economic slowdown. Dallas, Texas-based Interphase has about 200 full-time employees, most of them in the U.S. Between 24 and 26 percent of those positions will go, the company said.
• 7/5/01 - Marconi's shares plunged more than 50% on the British telecom-equipment maker's profit warning and plans to cut 4,000 more jobs, dragging down technology stocks across Europe.
• 7/5/01 - In a restructuring exercise aimed at keeping the company competitive in the Indian Internet space, Microland-owned Indya.com has downsized its total workforce by 20 percent. The news came as US-based general interest portal Indiaserver.com also decided to close down its Indian operations.
• 7/5/01 - CyberWorks announced deeper-than-expected cuts for its Internet businesses, including the elimination of 40% of online jobs, and announced a bond issue to reduce interest payments.
• 7/5/01 - Advanced Micro Devices Inc. projected that second quarter earnings could be less than a fifth of analysts' expectations, due to intense pricing pressure from archrival Intel Corp. and slumping demand for flash memory chips.
• 7/5/01 - Siemens announced plans to cut 2,000 positions at its business-services unit, highlighting the worsening situation at the German electronics company.
• 7/5/01 - Electronic Data Systems Corp. laid off about 400 of 5,000 employees in its A.T. Kearney management consulting unit this week in response to slowing demand. While many of its competitors in the consulting business have cut staff, the layoffs are the first this year at EDS, Plano, Texas, a computer-services firm that has weathered the economic downturn on strength in traditional outsourcing.
• 7/5/01 - Baltimore Technologies PLC said it will undertake a major restructuring of its global business operations that will include a "significant" reduction in its work force. The Irish Internet-security company also said its second-quarter sales will be below analysts' earlier forecasts. Although the company declined to provide details on its planned staff reductions, analysts have estimated that an additional 150 employees will be laid off following the 250 positions that were cut in May.
• 7/3/01 - Multex.com Inc., a global provider of investment information and technology solutions for the financial services industry, said it has been hurt by the slowdown in technology spending and announced it would trim its payroll. The company said in a news release that it plans to slash its payroll by 15% through work force reduction. Management also plans to take salary cuts.
• 7/3/01 - BMG Entertainment plans to lay off hundreds of employees in an effort to cut costs following intense pressure from parent Bertelsmann to improve profitability.
• 7/3/01 - AMF Bowling Worldwide Inc. filed for bankruptcy protection, as the largest U.S. bowling-alley operator company struggles to cope with a huge debt burden.
• 7/3/01 - Broadcom has trimmed an unspecified number of jobs, related to the communication chipmaker's previously announced layoff plans. The layoffs were companywide, affecting all locations and departments. About 2,706 people worked for Broadcom as of the end of March 2001.
• 7/3/01 - After nearly a year of slow sales, Apple has decided to halt production of its Power Mac G4 Cube.
• 7/3/01 - Ticketmaster said that it plans to lay off about 90 employees from its CitySearch unit in the next several months as part of a strategy to cut costs. The layoffs, which will amount to about 17 percent of the staff, are part of belt-tightening measures Ticketmaster initiated last year in an attempt to reach profitability by 2002. CitySearch, a unit of the ticket sales giant, is an online entertainment guide for cities around the world.
• 7/2/01 - BackWeb Technologies Inc., a push-technology company, said it will post a wider-than-expected quarterly loss and said it will cut its work force by one-quarter. Eli Barkat, chairman and chief executive, said in prepared remarks that the company believes "poor economic conditions in the market and the downturn in [information-technology] spending has resulted in customers further delaying new IT-related spending."
• 7/2/01 - Hewlett-Packard Co. said tens of thousands of employees signed up last Friday for voluntary pay cuts and a program to reduce vacation backlog, as the printing and computer company tries to reach lowered financial targets without implementing further layoffs. Hewlett-Packard Co. has also asked 14,000 of its Asian workers to take pay cuts or use additional vacation days.
• 7/2/01 - Art Technology Group is laying off 20 percent of its staff as part of a companywide reorganization. The company, which makes software for customer service applications and e-commerce, had already let go 12 percent of its staff in April. It was also announced that second-quarter results would be below expectations, citing "continued weakness in domestic (information technology) spending and a slowdown overseas."
• 7/2/01 - Internet consulting company Sapient laid off approximately 390 people, or roughly 14 percent of its work force. Like its competitors, Sapient has struggled to survive the economic downturn and the slowdown in technology consulting services.
• 7/2/01 - Seedstage.com, which advised entrepreneurs how to launch technology companies, plans to close by the end of next month. Partner Craig Fryar blamed the firm's fall on the shortage of private equity for early-stage companies.
• 7/2/01 - Metricom, a pioneer in providing wireless Internet access, filed for bankruptcy protection but intends to keep its 41,000 Ricochet subscribers online. The company's troubles mirror the woes in the wireless industry. Although wireless Internet access was hyped as a major growth area just a year ago, consumers have shown little demand for such services.