I'm new to this thread and have looked at back posts regarding forecast. Your comment "About a year ago the same guy predicted massive layoffs at equipment maker level" makes me question whether you reread the original coverage or are using your memory. I did, and nowhere did it say "massive". However, in the latest issue online at Forbes:
Consistent results are elusive in the painfully cyclical semiconductor equipment industry. But $1.4 billion (sales) Lam Research, the market leader (38% share) in selling the $3 million etching machines that carve pathways for microscopic circuitry onto silicon wafers, has found success by shedding assets. So that whether the market is up or down, it can hang on to its margins or at least stay profitable. It's done this by cutting a 1.4 million-square-foot factory by two-thirds, signing deals with overseas manufacturers, outsourcing ITand human resources and cutting head count to 2,300 from 5,300. "We're much more asset light,"says Chief Executive Stephen Newberry. So while sales were down 24% in the most recent quarter, margins only thinned to 15% from 21%. For Newberry, that's a victory.
forbes.com
I think that reducing head count from 5,300 to 2,300 qualifies as a massive layoff. So "this guy" was right!
And the forecast is consistent with that followed up by Dataquest a few days later. So I think your comment "One of those blurbs "entering the left ear and exiting the right ear"" is quite inappropriate.
Don't mean to step on toes my first post. |
