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An exterior of Sun Microsystems headquarters is shown in a Santa Clara, Calif.... ( PAUL SAKUMA )

By announcing one of the biggest tech layoffs so far this year, Sun Microsystems on Friday bought more time for its effort to expand sales and show that a strategy built around open-source software can carry the struggling Santa Clara computer maker out of the current recession and into profitability.

But analysts said the long-term prognosis is still uncertain for the venerable tech giant, which has been the subject of takeover speculation as its stock price plunged over the past year — even before the economy began battering other Silicon Valley companies.

Sun said Friday that it will lay off 5,000 to 6,000 workers, more than 15 percent of its global workforce, over the next year. Sun also will reorganize

its software business and merge some divisions into other operations. Rich Green, who has been Sun's executive vice president for software since 2006, will leave the company.

The moves are a response both to the recent economic crunch, which has hit Sun harder than other tech companies, and to a longer-term trend in which customers are buying more lower-cost commodity systems and fewer of the high-end proprietary servers and systems that were Sun's flagship products for many years.

"We're taking sharp, decisive action to align ourselves to a new economic reality, and also to amplify our investment in the way the world is heading," Chief Executive Jonathan Schwartz told the Mercury News, while expressing confidence in the company's


future.

He said the reorganization will boost Sun's efforts to develop lower-cost servers and storage appliances that combine Sun's hardware and software — some of which have already drawn a favorable response, while not yet making a big impact on profits.

Schwartz said the new structure also will help Sun pursue its strategy of selling those systems to businesses and government agencies that already use Sun's open-source software, including the MySQL database program. Sun makes much of its software available at no cost, although it charges for maintenance and support.

Sun, which has more than 33,000 employees worldwide, declined to say how many are based in the Bay Area or where the layoffs will occur. But Wall Street analysts praised the cuts as a necessary move to reduce expenses, after Sun posted a loss in two of its past three quarters.

"This is management making some of the tough choices that they need to make," said Shannon Cross of Cross Research.

Sun said the layoffs will save the company $700 million to $800 million a year, starting in its next full quarter. The company expects one-time costs of $500 million to $600 million over the next 12 months associated with the layoffs.

Several

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other Silicon Valley companies have announced smaller layoffs as the global slowdown has begun hitting home. Applied Materials said Tuesday that it will trim 1,800 jobs, or about 12 percent of its workforce. Hewlett-Packard said in September that it will lay off 24,600 people over the next three years, but HP has characterized those cuts as mostly eliminating duplication from a recent major acquisition, and not as a reaction to the downturn.

Sun's layoffs should bring the company out of the red and give it some breathing room, said analyst Brent Bracelin of Pacific Crest Securities. But he warned the company may find itself "back in the same position" if it doesn't use the next year to "decide what businesses they should focus on."

In addition to having its own database software, programming tools and operating system, Sun makes microprocessors, servers and data storage systems. While Bracelin said he doesn't think another company would buy Sun in its current condition, he added: "There are pieces of Sun that might be more valuable" to other tech companies.

Eventually, Sun might consider options ranging from an outright sale, spinning off pieces or even taking the company private, Bracelin said. "There are all kinds of things you can look at a year from now. This cost saving buys them time."

Sun was hit hard by the recent turmoil on Wall Street and in the banking industry, which has been a major customer for its high-end servers. While it had $13.9 billion in revenue last year, the company said sales to East Coast banking and investment firms fell 20 percent in its last quarter.

But Sun's problems began earlier: It had five unprofitable years after the Internet bubble burst earlier this decade, then appeared to be making a comeback in the past two years before swinging back into the red over the summer.

Sun's stock has plunged from an adjusted high of more than $250 at the start of the decade. A year ago, when the stock was trading at about $5, the company executed a one-to-four reverse split that made shares worth slightly more than $20. But the stock was again below $5 in recent weeks.

That meant Sun's market capitalization was about $3 billion, or roughly the same as the amount of cash and short-term investments the company has on hand. Shares closed at $4.12 on Friday, up almost 1 percent on the news of the layoffs.

Most analysts had expected Sun to make cuts, especially after a Tennessee investment firm disclosed last month that it had bought 21 percent of Sun's stock and was planning to have discussions with management about improving the stock value. Schwartz, however, said the changes were not directed by the new investors.

Contact Brandon Bailey at bbailey@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5022.