Motorola is expected to announce a rash of extra job cuts next week when it posts its financial results. But the company is playing down rumours that it is looking to ST Microelectronics (formerly SGS Thomson) to help bale it out on the semiconductor side. The extra job cuts, according to reports, will be in addition to the 150,000 it announced last June as part of its restructuring scheme. The company is expected to announce the additional layoffs because both its semiconductor and mobile business are still in the doldrums.

Rumours that Motorola and ST Microelectronics will form a joint venture with the latter performing management functions while the former will provide engineering expertise, were denied by a representative of STM today. He said: "These rumours have been flying around for some months time now. STM has made no statement about this." ®

* A reader writes that STM's statement is a fairly classic non denial denial. And that it doesn't say anything. Both are true. But interestingly enough, the PR guy for STM seemed totally non-interested in sending us stuff about Mosfets (are they a kind of Fatwa?) or other sortastuff we might do. We have been put down for press releases in the future as PC persons. Are we?