Business

Global sales of semiconductors dropped by 2.8 percent in 2008, according to a sales report released Monday by the Semiconductor Industry Association. It is the first decline in worldwide sales since 2001, the organization said. Total sales for 2008 were $248.6 billion, down from $255.6 billion in 20...

Nortel Networks on Thursday announced that it has discontinued its mobile WiMax joint agreement with Alvarion. Nortel characterized the move as an effort to refocus its business, better manage its investments and strengthen its broader carrier business to better position itself for competitiveness.

From time to time, attorneys ask me to act as mediator in a situation where partners in a business are not getting along. My experience has been that partners act more like a team when they are struggling together to make the company survive. But surprisingly, the business is usually quite profitabl...

As the recession deepens and spreads across the globe, people have been asking themselves variations of the same questions: Can my company survive the recession? Can my industry? My home town? Global outsourcers are no different. It might seem that this industry would have a degree of immunity from ...

As the recession deepens and spreads across the globe, people have been asking themselves variations of the same questions: Can my company survive the recession? Can my industry? My home town? Global outsourcers are no different. It might seem that this industry would have a degree of immunity from ...

As the recession deepens and spreads across the globe, people have been asking themselves variations of the same questions: Can my company survive the recession? Can my industry? My home town? Global outsourcers are no different. It might seem that this industry would have a degree of immunity from ...

Google has been outspoken on the subject of Net neutrality: It does not want to see Internet service providers limit accessibility based on pricing or other criteria. Now, it is offering consumers the tools to observe firsthand how encumbered their Internet access can be if an ISP prioritizes conten...

Cisco Systems is adding another layer of intelligence to its network switching products. The company announced a new software technology on Wednesday, called "EnergyWise," that lets businesses keep an eye on energy consumption by means of wireless devices and Ethernet-connected phones and cameras. T...

Yahoo's stock surged nearly 7 percent to $12.12 per share in mid-day trading on Wednesday after the struggling Internet portal reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter financial results. Wall Street analysts also seemed impressed with the debut of new CEO Carol Bartz, who took over the reins fro...

IBM received nearly 4,200 patents in 2008 from the United States Patent & Trademark Office, making Big Blue the undisputed king of the intellectual property game for the 16th year running. A closer look at U.S. patent numbers collated by IFI Patent Intelligence reveals something else: More and m...

Just a week after beating Wall Street expectations with a sterling earnings report, IBM is rumored to be laying off between 1,400 and 2,800 employees. If true, IBM would be the latest on a long list of technology companies that have shed jobs in the past few weeks. Last week, Microsoft announced it ...

The U.S. Senate voted late Monday to institute a four-month delay in the nation's switch from analog to all-digital television signals in a move meant to give millions of Americans more time to prepare for the transition. Television broadcasters are scheduled to go all-digital on Feb. 17, in effect ...

The micro-blog site Twitter is rumored to have inked an agreement with Institutional Venture Partners and possibly other venture capital firms that values it at an eye-popping $250 million. Assuming the report is correct, it says much about the state of VC financing in general, as well as the indust...

A recent ruling by the Supreme Court, reversing a nearly 100 year old statute outlawing price setting, is in the spotlight for retailers, lobbyists and economic theorists. For the past 96 years, retailers have been protected under an umbrella of antitrust laws prohibiting the collusion of manufactur...

It was supposed to be a legal showdown between the people who bring you The New York Times and the people who bring you community news; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists at the Gray Lady covering wars, presidential campaigns and Wall Street corporate meltdowns vs. low-paid reporters telling you abo...