Conexant Systems Inc, the largest maker of chips for modems, plans to eliminate 6 percent of its workforce, or 450 jobs, because sales are expected to decline.
Conexant will take a pretax charge of US$475 million in its third quarter ended June 30. The jobs are manufacturing, sales and administrative positions, Chief Executive Dwight Decker said.
Conexant will contract silicon-chip manufacturing to widen profit margins, he said. The company will continue to make chips based on silicon germanium and gallium arsenide, which can offer better performance.
Conexant, whose chips also power mobile phones and computer-networking equipment, is getting fewer orders as customers use inventory. Analysts have been concerned about the US-based company's cash and sales outlook since it announced job cuts in March and lenders canceled a credit line in May.
Conexant shares rose US$0.74, or 10 percent, to US$8.09 on Monday. The stock had fallen 85 percent in the past year.
Conexant had US$438.5 million in cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of March 31. Less than 10 percent of the US$475 million charge is in cash, Decker said. He declined to say how much cash the company had at the end of June. The company won't have to draw on credit lines this year, he said.
Conexant said the fiscal third-quarter loss, excluding asset write-downs and amortization of goodwill from acquisitions, was US$0.45 a share. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by First Call/Thomson Financial was for a loss of US$0.43 a share.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source