The company says it is speaking to potential buyers of parts of
its business, having failed to sell as a going concern. Any beenz
remaining in members’ accounts will be lost without compensation.
The company burned around $80 million and peaked with 5 million
users and 260 staff in 13 offices worldwide.
Tech slump round-up
Dell Computer, the world's largest PC maker, yesterday reported
a second quarter loss of $101 million, compared with a profit of
$603 million a year earlier, blaming "intensive price
competition".
Hewlett-Packard yesterday reported a sharp drop in its profits,
down 89%, year on year, to $111 million for the quarter. HP
recently cut 1,000 jobs and has announced another 6,000 cuts.
On-line directory Scoot, which had been running out of cash, has
secured a deal to sell its free-ads newspaper Loot and on-line
equivalent Loot.com for £45 million to the Daily Mail and General
Trust, having bought it only one year ago for £190 million. Scoot
said the deal will give it enough working capital to continue
trading "at least until the beginning of October 2001."
The Industry Standard, the popular weekly technology magazine,
has ceased publication, having run out of cash. Apart from the
slump in ad revenue, much of its cash burn was blamed on efforts to
prepare for an aborted IPO. Of 180 remaining staff, all but 15 jobs
will be cut. The editor is hopeful of finding a buyer.
Egghead.com, the biggest IT retailer in the US, has filed for
Chapter 11 bankruptcy, laid off 185 employees and has sold its site
and assets to retail chain Fry’s electronics.
European Micro Holdings, which buys and sells surplus inventory
hardware, has announced that it is unlikely to be able to continue
trading as a going concern, according to TheRegister.co.uk.
