The European Union’s formal objection to Oracle’s proposed acquisition of Sun has evidently transformed the database giant’s intransigence into grudging agreeability. The EU has extended the deadline for approval of the $7.4 billion merger to Jan. 27 from Jan. 19 at Oracle’s request.
Given its recent string of lousy financial reports, its weak platform strategy and declining share of the the global handset market, I suppose it was only a matter of time before Sony Ericsson began sacking employees again. And it did just that this morning, announcing plans to shutter its Research Triangle Park facility in North Carolina, as well as offices in Miami, India and Sweden.
AOL moguls Steve Case and Ted Leonsis are smiling into their cornflakes this morning. Moments ago, American Express announced plans to acquire Revolution Money, the online payments outfit they’ve been working on since 2007, for about $300 million.
Reporting disappointing second-quarter earnings a few weeks back, Sony warned that the Christmas shopping period would likely be a weak one. “We are quite cautious in foreseeing end-of-year sales,” Sony CFO Nobuyuki Oneda said at the time.
If you follow AllThingsD, and Weekend Update hopes you do, then one thing you’ve come to value is the special way the staff gets around the world to cover the important stuff and report it straight from the geek’s mouth. This week our bicoastal brigade brought the tech news as it happened, and in Boomtown’s case, from 30,000 feet.
If the latest sales data are any indication, the videogame industry may be headed for a rough holiday season. NPD Group reports that revenue from consoles and software plummeted during October, falling 16.4 percent from September and 19 percent year-over-year. It was the industry’s seventh consecutive monthly decline.
Add Adobe to the fast-growing list of tech companies sacking employees in November. In an 8-K filing today with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Adobe said it will cut nine percent of its workforce–approximately 680 jobs.
For Oracle, whose acquisition of Peoplesoft and Siebel Systems cleared in Europe without conditions, news that the European Commission issued formal objections to its purchase of Sun was likely particularly galling. According to Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, Sun is already losing $100 million a month as it waits for regulatory approval, and judging from the price of the company’s stock today, it may be losing even more.
How quickly Sprint has gone from cutting jobs to cutting checks. Not 24 hours after announcing plans to sack between 2,000 and 25,000 employees, the company said it has agreed to invest another $1.18 billion in WiMax provider Clearwire. That’s a big check to be writing, but then, Sprint is Clearwire’s majority shareholder and the carrier’s plans for differentiated 4G services rely heavily on the outfit’s success.
Reporting a second-quarter loss that widened thanks to a weak videogame market, Electronic Arts today said it will cut 1,500 jobs by early next year as part of a restructuring effort aimed at trimming at least $100 million in costs. This after announcing plans this morning to acquire social network game maker Playfish for $400 million.
Is there any possibility that Oracle would abandon its bid for Sun? And if Oracle were to walk away, what would happen to Sun? Thomas Weisel Partners analyst Doug Reid weighs both of these questions in a note to investors today, and his answers are worth considering in light of reports that the European Commission may object to the deal.
Electronic Arts is betting big on social gaming. This morning, the videogame publisher said it will acquire social network games maker Playfish for $400 million. An interesting move given that the company’s leadership dismissed rumors of such a deal just last month.
Given the havoc the econalypse has played with other industries, the smart-phone market is in extraordinarily good shape. Shipments of the devices rose 4.2 percent to 43.3 million globally compared with 41.5 million shipped in third quarter of 2008.
Sometimes big news comes in small packages–especially in the world of high tech. This week, AllThingsD covered some little changes that mean serious consequences for the companies that make the stuff and consumers who rely on it.
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper. Read more »
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
12:58 AM: Breakfast: Two schools of fish from Tokyo Bay. Calories: 782,000. How I was feeling when I ate this: confused, irradiated, hating my size.
11:37 AM: Exercise: “Taxi Stomp” (alternating legs, for 30 blocks). Calories burned: 148,900,183.
1983. The Beatles announce their first tour in thirteen years, but likewise announce that Michael Jackson will be going on tour with them as a one gigantic mega-concert event.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
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