eBay
Job cuts
eBay expects to lay off a few dozen workers as part of an internal restructuring plan. The online marketplace operator had said in a Sept. 21 post on its eBay Ink blog that it was making several organizational changes. These include a decision by Stephanie Tilenius, eBay’s global product and North America head, to leave her post. That post will not be filled, but Lorrie Norrington, president of eBay marketplaces, will also become directly responsible for eBay’s North America operations. John Pluhowski, a spokesman for San Jose-based eBay said Wednesday that the changes will include fewer than 60 job cuts as well, most of them coming from the company’s product and technology areas. The impending layoffs were communicated to employees in September, he said. They were told that a decision regarding the number of layoffs being made would come within 30 days. eBay has about 15,000 employees worldwide.
— Associated Press
Search
Leaders boost share
Google and Microsoft boosted their share of the U.S. Internet search market in September, while Yahoo lost ground, according to research firm comScore. Google’s share increased to 64.9 percent from 64.6 percent in August, Reston, Va.-based comScore said Tuesday. Microsoft rose to 9.4 percent from 9.3 percent, while Yahoo dropped to 18.8 percent from 19.3 percent, comScore said. Microsoft, which has increased its share for four straight months, announced an agreement with Yahoo in July to team up against market leader Google. Under the 10-year accord, Microsoft will gain more users for its Bing search engine, unveiled in June, and the two companies will share revenue for ads that appear next to query results.
— Bloomberg News
ASML
Swings to profit
ASML, Europe’s largest maker of semiconductor equipment, reported its first profit in four quarters and joined Intel in signaling a revival of demand in the chip industry. “The real lows are behind us,” said Paul Beijsens, an Amsterdam-based analyst at Theodoor Gilissen who recommends investors buy the stock. “The necessity for clients to invest has returned.”
— Bloomberg News
