Job cuts planned at Sun Microsystems
Computer server maker Sun Microsystems Inc., whose revenue has declined four years in a row, said Wednesday it planned to cut 4,000 to 5,000 jobs in an effort to return to consistent profitability.
The cuts, which will reduce Sun’s 37,500-person work force by 11 percent to 13 percent over the next six months, will cost Santa Clara-based Sun from $340 million to $500 million over the next several quarters, the company said.
Sun executives expect the plan, which also includes selling real estate and exiting leases, to save the company from $480 million to $590 million, once it is fully implemented sometime around June of next year.
The company, a major supplier of computer servers that run corporate networks and Web sites, was once a Wall Street darling but has struggled since the dot-com bubble burst in late 2000. Servers that run processors based on Intel Corp. designs and Microsoft Corp.’s Windows or the free Linux operating systems have grown increasingly powerful, often performing the same jobs at a fraction of the cost of Sun products.
Investors have driven down Sun shares from a high of about $64 in September of 2000 to a range of about $3.50 to $5 over the past year. Some analysts have criticized Sun’s management for not cutting costs more dramatically.
“Google Inc. CEO Eric Schmidt on Wednesday told industry analysts the online search engine leader is unlikely to create its own Web browser, even though the company remains worried about being slighted by the next version of Microsoft Corp.’s Internet Explorer.
Responding to a question during a conference call, Schmidt said Google sees little need to develop its own browser because most people seem satisfied with Explorer and rivals such as Firefox, Apple Computer Inc.’s Safari and Opera.
Mountain View, Calif.-based Google already has a search toolbar installed in Firefox as part of its partnership with the Mozilla open source software project that introduced the browser in 2004.
“Boeing Co. said Wednesday that it will spend a total of $27 billion in Russia over the next 30 years, including buying parts and investing in engineering design services.
Boeing’s civilian airliner division will spend $18 billion on titanium parts made in Russia over the next the next three decades, the company said in a statement. It will also spend $5 billion on investments in engineering design services and $4 billion will be invested in the framework of the International Space Station program and other projects.