The week ahead: Seagate, Yahoo earnings

Following are some of the notable tech-related events scheduled for the week of Oct. 9-13.

Disk drive maker Seagate Technology will announce its earnings this week. The company suffered a setback last week after key rival Maxtor bought Quantum's disk drive business, propelling the combined company to the No. 1 spot in that market ahead of Seagate.

Seagate will also be scrutinized as many hard drive manufacturers have struggled lately with low prices, declining profit margins and layoffs.

Advanced Micro Devices, Yahoo, General Electric and cellular phone provider Motorola are other high-profile technology companies scheduled to announce earnings this week.

Also this week, the Federal Communications Commission will vote at its monthly meeting Thursday in Washington on whether landlords should be compelled to permit wireless and other telecom providers access to their multitenant buildings.

The Microprocessor Forum will take place in San Jose, Calif. Chipmakers such as Intel, IBM and AMD will present their latest designs at the weeklong industry conference sponsored by Cahners Electronics Group.

Intel will host eXchange, a worldwide gathering of 100 top Internet economy executives, on Wednesday and Thursday in San Francisco. The focus will be on promoting the growth of e-businesses. Intel CEO Craig Barrett, Intel executive vice president Paul Otellini and Microsoft chairman Bill Gates will be featured keynote speakers.

The information was gathered from First Call/Thomson Financial, Hoover's Online, CCBN's StreetEvents and CNET Investor.

Other events scheduled this week:

	Tech Events

Monday, Oct. 9

• The Microprocessor Forum will take place in San Jose, Calif. Chipmakers such as Intel, IBM and AMD will present their latest designs at this weeklong industry conference sponsored by Cahners Electronics Group.

• Apple will host its QuickTime Live conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. Apple executive Phil Schiller will give a keynote address.

Tuesday, Oct. 10

• Credit Suisse First Boston will host its eCommerce conference in New York.

Wednesday, Oct. 11

• Credit Suisse First Boston will host its three-day EnergyTechnology Conference in Berkeley, Calif.

• The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers will face an international online election for five of its 19 board members. The new board will then be left with the task of choosing which applicants to accept.

• Intel hosts eXchange, a two-day, worldwide gathering of 100 top Internet economy executives at the Herbst International Exhibition Hall in San Francisco. The focus is on promoting the growth of e-businesses. Intel CEO Craig Barrett and Intel executive vice president Paul Otellini are keynote speakers at 9 a.m. on Oct. 11. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates is the keynote speaker at 9 a.m. on Oct. 12.

Thursday, Oct. 12

• The Federal Communications Commission will vote at its monthly meeting in Washington on whether landlords should be compelled to permit wireless and other telecom providers access to their multitenant buildings.

• Oracle is scheduled to split its stock 2-for-1.

	Earnings

Tuesday, Oct. 10

• Infosys Technologies develops customized software, including automated banking software, for business customers. Per-share consensus estimate: 20 cents.

• Excel Technology makes electro-optical components and laser systems for the scientific, industrial and medical markets. Per-share consensus estimate: 35 cents.

• Motorola is the No. 2 seller of cellular phones and the No. 6 maker of semiconductors. The company also produces two-way radios, pagers, computers and networking peripherals. Per-share consensus estimate: 26 cents.

• Seagate Technology makes disk and tape drives used in a variety of systems and specializes in high-end devices for corporate networks. Per-share consensus estimate: 21 cents.

• Yahoo operates a popular Web portal with features including email, chat rooms, shopping, news and stock quotes. The company also boasts about 5,200 advertisers (banner ads and sponsorships bring in most of its revenue) and is one of the few Web players operating in the black. Per-share consensus estimate: 12 cents.

Wednesday, Oct. 11

• Genentech is a biotechnology company that makes drugs to treat a variety of illnesses including cancer and heart attacks. Per-share consensus estimate: 31 cents.

• Hughes Electronics operates DirectTV, the largest U.S. satellite TV broadcaster, with 9 million customers; the 19-satellite network PanAmSat (81 percent-owned); and Spaceway, a global network that will offer broadband video and data on demand. Hughes is the publicly traded unit of General Motors. Per-share consensus estimate: N/A.

• Advanced Micro Devices is the No. 2 chipmaker behind Intel. AMD makes microprocessors, embedded chips and memory. Per-share consensus estimate: 62 cents.

• Applied Micro Circuits makes integrated circuits used to control the flow of voice and data transmissions across fiber-optic networks. Per-share consensus estimate: 23 cents.

• Actuate sells software that corporations use to design, publish and distribute business reports through corporate networks and the Internet. Per-share consensus estimate: 4 cents.

• Sonus Networks makes products that facilitate the movement of voice transmissions from traditional circuit networks to packet-based networks. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 18 cents.

• TranSwitch designs digital and mixed-signal semiconductors. Customers include Cisco Systems and Lucent Technology. Per-share consensus estimate: 11 cents.

• Sierra Wireless designs PC cards, modems and software used to develop wireless communications with handheld computing devices, notebook computers and vehicles. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 7 cents.

Thursday, Oct. 12

• DoubleClick provides targeted ads for the Internet. Per-share consensus estimate: 3 cents.

• Broadbase Software makes software that analyzes customer information to help e-businesses improve customer service, target potential customers, and personalize marketing promotions. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 9 cents.

• Gateway is the No. 2 seller of personal computers in the United States behind Dell Computer. Per-share consensus estimate: 46 cents.

Also this week

• General Electric makes everything from lightbulbs to airplane engines. The company's financial services arm, GE Capital Services, accounts for half of sales and is one of the largest financial services companies in the United States. Other operations include the NBC TV network. Per-share consensus estimate: 32 cents.

• Aspeon operates through two subsidiaries, Javelin Systems and Aspeon Solutions. Javelin Systems' point-of-sale computers, used by restaurants and retailers, can capture orders and transmit the information to corporate headquarters (or to the kitchen or bar). Aspeon Solutions offers messaging, e-commerce and database services to companies and their suppliers. Per-share consensus estimate: loss of 10 cents.

	Economic Reports

Wednesday, Oct. 11

• Wholesale Inventories for the month of August are expected to increase 0.6 percent, compared with a 0.3-percent increase in July.

Thursday, Oct. 12

• Initial Claims refers to the number of people who filed for unemployment benefits. No estimates were immediately available.

Friday, Oct. 13

• Retail Sales are expected to increase to 0.4 percent for the month of September, from a 0.2 percent increase in August.

Also this week

• Congress adjourns for the year this week, and it's unclear whether the Senate will vote to increase the fees employers pay for each H-1B high-tech visa to $1,000. The House recently approved the measure, sponsored by Rules Committee chairman David Dreier, R-Calif.

• Teen site Kibu.com is expected to turn out the lights on its Web site, following the abrupt shutdown of the privately held company. Kibu, which offered content and chat rooms aimed at teenage girls, laid off most of its 65-person staff, and a skeleton crew is completing plans for the site to go dark, officials said.

• Microsoft and Sprint PCS signed a deal to deliver Web content from the software giant's MSN Internet unit to wireless phone customers. The deal calls for subscribers of Sprint's Wireless Web service to gain access to MSN Mobile 2.0, the latest iteration of Microsoft's wireless portal, beginning this week.

• Technology IPOs include Synplicity--a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company that makes software for the design and verification of semiconductors used in Internet infrastructure hardware--and MCE Companies, which makes parts for wireless infrastructure equipment.