Agere Systems is reducing its workforce by 500 employees across the business, including administrative functions, sales, marketing and product development. The company said it expects to reduce its quarterly R&D and selling, general and administrative (SG&A) expenses to approximately $170 million to $175 million by the third quarter of fiscal 2005, beginning in April. In the quarter ended June 30, the company had reported $195 million in these expenses.
In addition, Agere announced that it would cease operations in its wafer manufacturing facility in Orlando, Florida, by the end of December 2005, if a sale of the facility cannot be arranged by that time.
Agere also reaffirmed that revenues in the September quarter are still expected to be in the range of $420 million to $445 million, which was the guidance provided in July.
The company expects revenues for the first quarter of fiscal 2005, ending December 31, 2004, to be sequentially lower by approximately 5 percent. This decline is due to inventory adjustments by customers of 2.5G/GPRS mobile phone and telecommunications products, as well as a seasonal decline in IP revenues and shipments of chips for satellite radio. Gross margin is expected to decrease sequentially due to lower utilization of capacity and lower revenue levels. http://www.agere.com
