EMC takes knife to research budget
Published: 14 Nov 2001 07:30 GMT
Storage maker EMC plans to cut back on research and development spending, as it tries to pare costs and stem mounting losses.
EMC, one of the dominant technology companies in recent years, has struggled mightily amid the technology slowdown, while pricing pressures have mounted from competitors such as IBM and Hitachi Data Systems. In a sign of the times, the company last week got into a squabble with Hitachi over a prominent customer.
EMC spent $711.8m on research and development in the first nine months of 2001, an increase of 27 percent from the preceding year in an effort to "continue to improve its long-term competitive position," the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
But the overall level of research spending is expected to decline in the next several quarters, the company said. The filing did not specify how large the cuts would be. EMC executives were not immediately available for comment.
The Hopkinton, Mass.-based company launched a restructuring project last month that included the elimination of 4,000 jobs and forced it to record a loss of almost $1bn for the third quarter.
At the time, it announced cost-cutting measures designed to help save $800m annually by the middle of next year and to allow the company to record a profit by the second half of next year.
See techTrader for the latest financial news in the high-tech sector.
Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Click on the TalkBack button and go to the techTrader forum
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom. And read other letters.
Did you find this article useful?
38 out of 56 people found this useful
- Share this article:
