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November 21, 2008 10:27:10 CST


Sun Microsystems

Sun Microsystems news stories

14 Stories

 Tech Sector Short-Circuits

Once-insulated Silicon Valley fails to outpace slowdown

(Newser) - A sudden slowdown has sent the tech industry into a slump so severe some are comparing it to the dot-com bust, the New York Times reports. The sector was confidently chugging along as recently as September but last month saw orders for both business and consumer tech rapidly plunge—"like flicking a switch," according to one analyst. More »

More about:  Financial Crisis recession technology layoffs Sun Microsystems tech industry

MARKET Open

 Stocks Sink on 
 Record Retail Plunge 

Host of negative news hurts markets

(Newser) - Stocks tumbled at the open today, after a raft of negative news overshadowed yesterday’s big rally. The Dow fell 128 points, while the Nasdaq and S&P shed 2% and 1.8% respectively. The Dow shot up more than 500 points yesterday, but today brought a dismal quarterly report from Freddie Mac, a slashed outlook from Nokia, and a record decline in retail sales in October. More »

More about:  Dow Jones stock market S&P 500 Freddie Mac retail sales NASDAQ Nokia Sun Microsystems

 Sun Micro to Cut 5,000 Jobs

Software giant slashes 15-18% of workforce

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems intends to lay off 5,000 to 6,000 employees, amounting to 15-18% of the computer maker’s workforce. The cuts should shave about $800 million off Sun’s costs, as the company struggles to compensate for swiftly declining sales. Sun lost $1.68 billion last quarter, as revenue fell 7%. The cuts are part of a wider restructuring intended to boost focus on its software business, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

More about:  unemployment Silicon Valley job cuts Sun Microsystems tech sector

MARKETS

 Jobs, Earnings Spur Losses

Downbeat session kicks off August

(Newser) - Stocks fell today as investors absorbed a slate of poor earnings reports and glum but not awful economic reports. Crude rose $1.02 a barrel, and shares in every sector other than energy fell, MarketWatch reports. The Dow dropped 51.70 to 11,326.32, the Nasdaq shed 14.59 to close at 2,310.96, and the S&P 500 fell 7.07 to 1,260.31. More »

More about:  Dow Jones S&P 500 Nasdaq General Motors Ford Toyota oil prices Labor Department Sun Microsystems

Sun Banks on Lasers
to Make Next Speed Leap

Using light, not wires, to connect chips could make computers 1,000 times faster

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems is moving toward connecting computer chips using lasers instead of wires, a move that could make computers 1,000 times faster. The company snagged a $44 million Pentagon contract to continue work that could also mean smaller, more energy-efficient machines. It won’t be easy, though: A Sun researcher told the New York Times the chance of success is 50%. More »

More about:  Pentagon computer Intel MIT IBM computer chip Hewlett Packard Sun Microsystems Stanford supercomputer University of California at San Diego lasers

Sun Posts Strong Profits

Services pick up the slack from core hardware divisions

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems today reported a profit of $260 million for the quarter ending Dec. 30, MarketWatch reports. Though total revenue was $3.62 billion, Sun’s service and sales were responsible for most of the gains, growing to $1.37 billion from $1.31 billion in the same quarter last year. Hardware product sales fell slightly from $2.26 billion to $2.25 billion over the same interval. More »

More about:  earnings reports software emerging markets Sun Microsystems quarterly results computer servers

Economic Worries Propel Silicon Valley Deals

Oracle and Sun Microsystems may be only tip of the iceberg

(Newser) - Recent acquisitions by Sun Microsystems and Oracle could be the opening round of new Silicon Valley deal-making, the Wall Street Journal reports, as tech companies worried about a US economic slowdown seek to strengthen their positions. Smaller companies struggling to stay afloat are tempting targets; bigger fish also want to invest in building web-based software and services—a still-growing sector. More »

More about:  mergers and acquisitions acquisition Silicon Valley IBM Oracle Sun Microsystems BEA Systems MySQL

Sun Reveals Profit Boom, $1B MySQL Buyout

Open-source software developer latest acquisition for giant

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems revealed two surprises today: The computer company showed quarterly earnings that have nearly doubled from a year ago, and it said it would buy open-source software developer MySQL for $800 million in cash and $200 million in assumed options. Sun’s earnings in the second quarter—which ended Dec. 30—could reach $265 million, beating 2006’s $133 million mark, MarketWatch reports. More »

More about:  earnings reports Sun Microsystems open source MySQL

Valley Tech Giants Ditch Cubicles for Open Space

Some people miss them... for a little while

(Newser) - Silicon Valley giants like Intel, Cisco, and Sun, are experimenting with ditching cubicles to improve productivity. Execs at the companies say that the typical office gray maze isn't ideal anymore for the modern, connected workplace. "Collaboration has been shown to spark innovation and speed product to market," says a designer at an office architectural firm. More »

More about:  Intel Silicon Valley Sun Microsystems Cisco Systems cubicle

HP Earnings Spike 28%

The PC and server giant enjoys high sales, not affected by economic slump

(Newser) - Computer and printer giant Hewlett-Packard rode strong server, software, and PC sales to a 28% boost in fourth quarter earnings from a year ago, CNN Money reports. The company posted a net profit of $2.2 billion, with a share price of 81 cents, up from 60 cents a year ago. The profits defied low industry expectations set by tech companies like Cisco Systems and Qualcomm, the Wall Street Journal reports. More »

More about:  computer corporate earnings Dell Sun Microsystems Cisco Systems Qualcomm servers

Sun Rises
on Dell

Deal to install Solaris OS on Dell servers should help Sun Microsystems grow

(Newser) - Computer seller Dell, looking to regain momentum by responding to business customer demand to offer broader, simpler technology solutions, will install the Solaris operating systems on its servers, giving a boost to longtime rival Sun Microsystem’s efforts to grow its software business, reports the New York Times.   “This is world-changing,” said Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz. “It positions both companies better.” More »

More about:  IBM Dell operating system Sun Microsystems

Sun Misses Revenue Mark, Falls in Late Trading

First full year with profits since dot-com bust

(Newser) - Despite recording its fourth straight profitable quarter for the first time since the dot-com crash, Sun Microsystems fell in evening trading after missing 1Q sales projections by $50 million, reports the Associated Press. Analysts projected the company would bring in $3.27 billion in sales in the quarter; the final number was $3.22 billion. Sun shares were down 2.8% in evening trades. It was the late session's most active Nasdaq issue. More »

More about:  corporate earnings Sun Microsystems tech stocks

CEO Stakes Sun's Renaissance
on Freebies

Java giant focuses
on appealing to the masses over CIOs

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems’ latest CEO has an interesting strategy for getting profit out of the beleaguered tech giant—he's giving stuff away. “There’s value in volume,” says Jonathan Schwartz, who has made free Sun's Solaris operating system, microprocessor blueprints, and Java code. So far, so good: Schwartz turned 2006 losses of $864 million into a $473 million profit. More »

More about:  Sun Microsystems Linux

Mobile Servers Save Energy, Add Capacity

Sun packages extra processing power
in steel shipping containers

(Newser) - Sun Microsystems has a solution for the booming demand for network space, and as a bonus, it lowers energy use: packing servers into steel shipping containers that can be parked wherever they're needed. It's called Project Blackbox, and Sun says it reduces power consumption by 20%. The giant 20-foot boxes sell for $500,000 a pop. More »

More about:  Internet Google Microsoft Yahoo online videos Stanford University Sun Microsystems Stanford particle accelerator network data centers servers storage

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