S3 gets the flu, axes jobs

Richard Barry ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 27 Jul 1998 15:14 BST

Asian Flu took down another victim this week in the shape of graphics company S3 - maker of the Savage 3D. The company reported a Net loss of $11.6m (£7.07m) for the quarter, or $0.23 per diluted share compared to net loss for the same quarter last year of $1.8 million or $0.04 per diluted share.

Blaming the economic nightmare in Asia, Terry Holdt, president and chief executive officer of S3 announced the company is to cut 20 percent of its workforce in an effort to streamline operations. "During the second quarter of 1998, we were severely impacted by the overall softening of the Asia market and decreased demand for our older 2D and 3D products," said Holdt.

On a brighter note, Holdt said S3 was "ramping up volume" of its Savage 3D processor which has been adopted by both Diamond Multimedia and STB.