Yahoo slashes jobs as Apple soars

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 22 Oct 2008 at 08:03

Yahoo has announced almost 1,500 job losses as the company's net profit fell by 64% in the past quarter.

The search number two said it would shed a tenth of its workforce as the economic downturn took its toll on the company's advertising revenues.

"As we saw the online ad market decline in the third quarter, I decided Yahoo needed to accelerate the process of getting more competitive," says chief executive Jerry Yang. "We anticipate we will reduce headcount by at least 10%."

Yahoo's stock price now stands at around $12 per share - more than $20 less than Microsoft was prepared to pay for the company earlier this year.

Nevertheless, Yang remains bullish about Yahoo's long-term prospects. "While the advertising market goes through a down cycle, we believe the internet ad market will recover, with Yahoo positioned to take share," Yang claims. "Despite a tough environment, I remain very optimistic about Yahoo's future."

iPhone boom

Yet, it's not all doom and gloom in the tech industry as Apple announced bumper iPhone-fuelled profits.

The Mac maker reported a net profit increase of 26%, although it wasn't the company's computers that had the biggest impact on its bottom line.

CEO Steve Jobs revealed that the iPhone now accounts for a staggering 39% of Apple's turnover, with sales of 6.9 million handsets worldwide during the past quarter alone.

Jobs described the iPhone's impact as "too big to ignore", and indicated there's more to come. "If this isn't stunning, I don't know what is. Who knows what the future will be?"

Jobs claims Apple is now the third biggest mobile phone supplier in the world, ranked only behind Nokia and Samsung, and having overtaken BlackBerry maker, RIM.