National Semiconductor (NSM) on Thursday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss in line with Wall Street expectations, citing a continuing decline in sales of chips for personal computer and networking products.
National, based in Santa Clara, California, reported a loss of US$69.3 million, or 42 cents per share, excluding one-time charges, for the quarter ended May 31.
The loss compared with a profit of $57.4 million, or 36 cents a share, also excluding charges, in the previous fourth quarter. Revenues fell to $510 million from $651.7 million.
Including charges, the company's net loss for the fourth quarter was $212.4 million, or $1.29 a share. Including the time charges, it lost $98.6 million, or 60 cents per share, compared with net income of $1.6 million, or 1 cent per share, in the previous year.
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Ziff takes over: Ziff-Davis (ZD) said Thursday it agreed to buy Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) 50 percent interest in FamilyPC, a computer magazine for families owned jointly by the two companies. Ziff-Davis and Buena Vista Magazines, Disney's magazine publishing arm, launched FamilyPC in 1994 through a 50-50 partnership. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
Robin Raskin, FamilyPC's editor in chief and publisher, said Ziff-Davis will continue its participation with Disney in programs like Innoventions at Walt Disney World in Orlando.
FamilyPC has a circulation of 400,000 and is a source of information for the family-computer market.
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Surprise ... Yahoo is still top dog: Portal site Yahoo (YHOO), the consistent pacesetter for Web traffic, drew in 36 percent more unique Web surfers in May than its nearest competitor, according to a report from the Internet research firm RelevantKnowledge.
Some 30.6 million users traveled last month to Yahoo, a site that has topped Web traffic every month in 1998. America Online (AOL) sites came in second, with 22.8 million unique visitors, followed by software company Netscape Communications (NSCP), with 18.8 million. But RelevantKnowledge admits that due to technical reasons its report under-represents traffic on aol.com.
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AT&T, Excite power up: An agreement between Web portal Excite (XCIT) and AT&T (T) WorldNet will let surfers get online for a discounted price of $14.95 a month for 150 hours, the companies said. Within two months, AT&T and Excite will offer Internet-based, multimedia communications services such as anonymous voice chat, click-to-dial directories, and conference calling controlled from the Web. And within the next month AT&T will offer Excite users access to a selection of its services -- AT&T One Rate, online long-distance service, AT&T Wireless services, AT&T prepaid calling cards, and the WorldNet service -- through a co-branded "Personal Communications Center" on the Excite site.
Reuters contributed to this report.
