Dot Com News from Week of August 27, 2001

• 9/1/01 - NetObjects, Inc. announced that it will cease operations effective today. The Company intends to sell its assets as expeditiously as circumstances permit.
• 8/31/01 - Hitachi added its name to the growing list of Japanese consumer electronics firms that are downsizing, announcing plans to shed 4.5 percent of its payroll worldwide and predicting a hefty loss for the year. In total, the group plans to shed 14,700 jobs as part of a major restructuring drive to accommodate the current downturn in demand for IT in most markets.
• 8/31/01 - Flooz.com has officially filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection less than a week after confirming it had ceased operations. The company listed assets between $50,000 to $100,000 and debts between $10 million and $50 million in bankruptcy court.
• 8/31/01 - Chip equipment maker Lam Research announced that it is cutting 10 percent of its staff and implementing company-wide shutdown days to combat a slump that has affected the entire semiconductor industry.
• 8/31/01 - Three months after announcing it had encountered accounting irregularities, U.S. Wireless including its subsidiaries have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection from creditors. A spokesperson blamed the irregularities on lower than expected demand for mobile location services in addition to class-action lawsuits from shareholders.
• 8/31/01 - Online postage company, Stamps.com, in an effort to "streamline operations" and reach profitability, let 24 of its 96 employees go. Meanwhile CFO Ken McBride has become president and CEO taking over interim president and CEO Bruce Coleman.
• 8/30/01 - Ceramics maker Kyocera Corp. plans to eliminate 10,000 workers overseas or approximately 20% of its entire workforce by the year's end. This measure comes after citing lower than expected sales of electronic parts.
• 8/30/01 - Ford Motor Co. said the previously announced 4,000 to 5,000 North American white-collar cuts will actually be over 5,000 cuts. The company is considering plant closures and other restructuring measures in North America as the industry is over capacity and Asian and European competition is fierce.
• 8/30/01 - Swissair Group said it will cut management and additional staff as slowing economies and high fuel prices kept it in the red. The struggling Swiss airline said it will fire 5 percent of its global management and 1,000 workers.
• 8/30/01 - Schwab intends to cut between 2,000 and 2,400 employees by the end of the year. In March, the company first announced job cuts which are also included in the overall number. The company blamed the difficult market environment.
• 8/30/01 - Micromatix.com Inc which operates online as Micromatix.net, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company which builds customized computers for resellers, has a list of claims against itself reaching a total just over $211,000. Micromatix.com will begin searching for a company to merge with it's existing shell.
• 8/30/01 - BCE's Teleglobe unit plans to eliminate 450 jobs, or 20% of its work force, and reduce its capital expenditure budget because of the telecom-industry slump.
• 8/29/01 - Credit Suisse Group AG posted a 23% decline in second-quarter profit, and warned that with coming quarters likely to be worse, it will cut costs and jobs.
• 8/29/01 - Corning Inc., saying it is experiencing a "sudden slowdown" in orders for its fiber-optic cable and outlining layoff plans, now expects annual growth of its fiber business to be "significantly less" than the 15% it predicted just one month ago. To compensate for the lower demand, the company said it was laying off 1,000 employees and idling plants in Wilmington, and Concord, N.C., during a short Labor Day shutdown.
• 8/29/01 - Telecommunications operator Enitel has filed for bankruptcy protection from its creditors in a Norwegian court in an attempt to plan refinancing to ensure continued operation.
• 8/28/01 - Standard Media Inc., parent of the Industry Standard magazine, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on August 27, one week after ceasing publication of the magazine. Stating on the Company's web site that their is "considerable interest" in its assets, Standard Media is expected to use bankruptcy protection to liquidate. At its height, the Industry Standard employed more than 400 people and put out ad-stuffed issues which often exceeded 300 pages in length -- making it the fastest growing magazine in American history.
• 8/28/01 - Internet coupon company, Save.com has ceased operations citing the company's lack of advertisers in addition to a tight capital market.
• 8/28/01 - PC manufacturer Gateway has a reorganization plan that would effectively terminate 25% of its worldwide employees. 15% of its workforce in the United States would be terminated via the company's decision to close four call centers and its manufacturing facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition the company may close many of its overseas operations.
• 8/27/01 - Komag Inc. maker of media and disk drives, filed voluntarily for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company expects to continue operating during the Chapter 11 process. The company has functioned for many years under debt.
• 8/27/01 - Online gift-currency company, Flooz.com has ceased operations and plans to file for bankruptcy protection. The company cited having been "adversely affected by dramatic changes in capital markets and the general slowdown in the economy" according to a message posted on its web site. Earlier this month, Flooz took its web site down. Flooz money that can no longer be redeemed by any of its partners which included Barnes & Noble.com and J. Crew Group.
• 8/27/01 - CommunicateNow.Com Inc. said it is moving ahead with a plan to lay off approximately 23 staff. Citing belt-tightening as seen throughout the IT and dot com industries, CMNW will be laying off staff from all areas of the company with the largest numbers of layoffs taking place within the bizfinders.com sales organization.
• 8/27/01 - Deere & Co. plans to leave its Homelite consumer-products business and cut operations in its construction and forestry division. 775 people will lose their jobs as the company cites the bad economy as the cause. Leaving its Homelite business, Deere will sell its operations in Chihuahua, Mexico and close some or all operations in Greer and Columbia, South Carolina and Charlotte, North Carolina. This would affect 475 employees.
• 8/27/01 - Internet security firm IDefense has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection with assets of $1 million and liabilities of $10 million. Creditors included PSINet, Winstar, Kforce.com, Digex Inc. and McGuire, Woods, Battle & Boothe.
• 8/27/01 - As its profits diminish, Toshiba Corp. today announced it will cut 12% of its 144,000 strong domestic workforce. 10,000 employees will be asked to shift jobs while the company closes plants and begins outsourcing.
• 8/27/01 - BT Wireless is planning to eliminate 1,000 positions or about 10% of its total workforce as soon as it splits from its British Telecom parent later this year. According to a BT spokesperson, these cutbacks are part of the company's planned 6,000 cuts over the entire BT group.