NEWS IN BRIEF
Daily Digest 16 January
16-01-2009
by Deirdre McArdle
Sony Ericsson sees sales, profits drop | Circuit City to shut up shop
Mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson has posted sales of USD3.84 billion in the fourth quarter, a 23 percent decline on the previous year. Profits also plummeted from USD494.3 million in 2007 to a loss of USD245 million in 2008. The mobile maker said the number of handsets shipped through the Christmas period dropped by 21 percent to 24.2 million, as consumer demand waned. Sony Ericsson expects the mobile market to continue to struggle during 2009, particularly in the first half of the year.
Software firm Autodesk has announced it is to cut its workforce by 10 percent as it strives to cut costs in the current economic downturn. The firm will reduce its employee numbers by 750 and it is aiming to save USD130 million per year through this round of restructuring. The job cuts add to previous cost-cutting measures taken by the firm, including a hiring freeze and cuts in business travel expenses. The software firm also warned that its fourth-quarter results would fall short of expectations, and that revenue is expected to be in the range of USD475 million to USD500 million. Earlier this week former Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz was named as the new head of Yahoo.
Consumer electronics retailer Circuit City is to shut down its remaining 567 stores across the US after failing to find a buyer, according to a court filing. The bankrupt retailer asked the court for approval to close down its stores and to sell off all its merchandise. According to Circuit City, which was the second largest electronics retailer in the US after Best Buy, it has 30,000 employees. In its filing it said it has reached an agreement with four companies to start the liquidation process.
Following the successful Government trade mission to Japan this week, the Centre for Telecommunications Value-chain Research (CTVR) has called for stronger links between Irish and Japanese researchers in order to focus on the "next wave" of mobile communications. Speaking in Tokyo, Professor Donal O'Mahony, director of the CTVR, said there were opportunities for greater collaboration between teams in Ireland and Japan, particularly in the use of available radio wave frequencies within the electromagnetic spectrum. This would involve carrying out high-level experiments on new, potentially ground-breaking radio-based technologies in home broadband, mobile communications and other fields, he said. The CTVR has already set up a research partnership with NEC Communication Systems, part of Japanese technology giant NEC Group.
Education-themed search engine Learnpipe has revealed that business skills courses were among its most popular searches over the past two weeks. "Change management" and "leadership skills" are also high on the top 10 list of most popular search terms. The Irish search engine's results also showed that "stress management" has become one of the top 10 most popular search terms on Learnpipe, which founder John Dineen says is a reflection of the current economic climate. Around 40 percent of Learnpipe's traffic comes from Ireland, 40 percent from the UK and 20 percent from the rest of the world. Learnpipe has offices in Cork and Manchester.
Caped Koala Studios has built a virtual world for kids, combining education and social networking 