Business

Two new reports suggest online holiday shopping has gotten an early start this year, possibly paving the way for a strong fourth quarter. Nielsen//NetRatings said online shopping activity spiked 12 percent during the week ended November 3rd, with traffic particularly heavy in typical holiday categor...

Number two semiconductor manufacturer AMD has announced it will lay off 2,000 people, or 15 percent of its global workforce, in an attempt to break even in the coming year. A thousand employees will be notified immediately in the United States, Europe and Asia, and the remaining 1,000 will be laid ...

As the U.S. economy continues to traverse shaky ground, companies are asking more of their IT departments. The root of the problem is that many companies, large and small, have pressing IT needs that are not about to disappear -- but they also have far less capital than they once did. The question i...

Just seven months after being hired to revive the America Online Internet brand, James de Castro has announced he is leaving AOL Time Warner. AOL said de Castro is leaving to "seek new opportunities" and indicated he wants to hold a CEO position. De Castro reportedly was disappointed he was not chos...

HP president Michael D. Capellas, a key figure in the hard-fought battle over the HP-Compaq merger, will resign his position and is rumored to be the choice to try to resurrect fraud-plagued WorldCom. HP said the president's position will not be filled, leaving CEO Carly Fiorina firmly in control of...

In the last two years, BroadVision's revenues have collapsed, and its market cap has shrunk. Even after a year of aggressive cost cutting, the company's third-quarter results showed continuing losses. That red ink has spurred speculation that BroadVision could run out of money before it executes its...

Dell is not a company that rests on its laurels. It has climbed back on top of the PC sales heap just a few months after the HP-Compaq merger displaced it, and it has extended its brand name into the printer and PDA markets to help drive its bottom line. Now, other manufacturers must respond to Dell...

Ending weeks of speculation, Amazon.com has formally launched its apparel store, timing the debut to coincide with the start of the holiday season. To encourage people to buy clothes through the site from one of its several apparel partners, including Gap, Nordstrom, Lands' End, Target and Foot Lock...

With the merger of Hewlett-Packard and Compaq a done deal and its strong reputation intact, the new HP seems well positioned to remain a leading force in the global IT arena. HP spokesperson Rebeca Robboy told the E-Commerce Times that the merger has enabled the company to "deliver more for less," i...

After two extremely difficult years, things are finally looking up for the global semiconductor industry. Two new industry forecasts indicate chip sales will increase, with the recovery beginning this year. One forecasting firm, the Semiconductor Industry Association, expects global chip sales to in...

After several years and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on development, Microsoft has launched its Windows XP Tablet PC platform at a New York event, alongside several hardware makers whose Tablet PCs hit the market at the same time. The software giant claims the devices will help revolutioniz...

Apple has made it a priority to lure small businesses to the Mac OS platform, reasoning that they will be willing to abandon Windows in favor of a network that is easier to maintain without tremendous IT resources. Brian Croll, Apple's senior director of software for worldwide product marketing, tol...

Of all Yahoo's recent efforts to diversify its revenue base beyond advertising, the company's alliance with SBC to offer co-branded Internet service has raised the most eyebrows. Is Yahoo! on track with its new initiatives, or is it losing the focus that made it a force to be reckoned with in the on...

Eighty-one percent of small businesses that maintained an online presence during last year's holiday season reached new customers, leading to an increase in sales and profitability, according to a new Harris Interactive survey released by Yahoo! That seems like a compelling figure, but most small bu...

Demand for information technology products and services has bottomed out and is on the rise again, but strict budget controls will prevent IT spending by U.S. companies from increasing in 2003, according to a new report from Gartner and Soundview Technology Group. "Though it may be painful to have t...