A consortium comprised of 11 Japanese chipmakers and one South Korean firm will embark upon a five-year, $675 million research project to develop new technologies for increasingly intricate semiconductor circuitry.
Consortium officials said the project, known as Asuka, will pool resources so the companies can remain focused on their core businesses, although there is concern about Japan's diminished position in global chip technology.
"Rather than everyone on their own running after essentially the same thing, we'll set a common ground for the basic areas," said Akihiko Morino, chief operating officer of Semiconductor Leading Edge Technologies, a research venture set up by Japanese chipmakers, which will play a central role in Asuka.
Pointing to the involvement of South Korea's Samsung Electronics, Asuka officials said the consortium would be open to all players in the global industry.
- - -
A downer at Dow: Dow Jones said it is laying off 202 workers, or about 2 percent of its work force, as it reported first-quarter earnings just below expectations, which had already been lowered twice.
The publisher of The Wall Street Journal said a month ago that it planned to make "limited" staff cuts along with other cost reductions as it struggled to cope with a sudden downturn in advertising.
And so it did.
- - -
Sale postponed: Bulgaria's largest Internet site, Dir.bg, said it had decided to postpone its planned sale of a stake until the market for tech investment stabilizes.
Two months ago, Dir.bg said it hoped to find a merger partner or a strategic foreign investor by mid-2001. The company hired Andersen, a U.S consultancy firm, as its adviser.
- - -
More job cuts: A little more than a week after PSINet said that it was running out of cash and would probably reorganize under U.S. bankruptcy laws, the Internet access provider has cut more jobs, the Washington Post reported on Thursday.
A spokesman was quoted as saying the company "will impose staff reductions over the next few weeks" to conserve cash. The firm would not say how many pink slips went out on Wednesday. But, some of the laid-off employees put the number of jobs lost at 125.
- - -
Cash shortage: Outpost.com, which sells consumer electronics, computers and related technology products over the Internet, posted a fourth-quarter loss and said it was exploring strategic options due to a lack of financing.
"Current market conditions have made it difficult to secure the required equity and working capital financing we need," said chairman Darryl Peck.
"Therefore, we intend to meet with our creditors to discuss payment options. As a result, the company has decided to explore all available options at this time," Peck added.
Reuters and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
