Last gasp?
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Disk-drive equipment maker Komag Inc.
said Wednesday it will cut 480 jobs, about 46 percent of its workforce, as it phases out its U.S. manufacturing operations.
Komag (KMAG), which makes thin-film media for computer hard disk drives, is transferring production from San Jose, Calif., to a low-cost manufacturing facility in Malaysia, which the company said should account for "virtually all of our finished disk output by the end of this year."
The San Jose-based company made the announcement after Wednesday's market close.
A dismal industry outlook, sparked by declining disk-drive prices and a trend toward higher storage capacities in the low-cost PC market, accelerated Komag's decision to close its U.S. manufacturing operations.
"The downward pressure of disk pricing remains strong due to the continuing excess production capacity within the disk industry," said T.H. Tan, Komag's president and chief executive officer. "After a close evaluation of these factors, we see limited opportunity for revenue growth in the merchant segment of the disk industry in the near future and have lowered our internal forecast to reflect this view."
Komag eliminated 500 jobs earlier this year. The 480 new job cuts will bring the company's workforce down to 570. Of the latest round of job reductions, 250 will be effective immediately; the remainder of the cuts will be spread out over the next two quarters.
The company said it expects to save $20 million per quarter in payroll costs. Komag added that it expects to take a "significant" one-time charge for the job cuts in its third fiscal quarter, which ends Oct. 3.
Komag shares fell 1/16 to close at 3-9/16 in Wednesday trade. |
