Alliant – see first column – wasn’t the only one seeking to hide in the shelter of the impending holiday and Sunnyvale, California-based Cermetek Microelectronics Inc announced that because of the rapid deterioration in the low-speed modem market, its sales in that sector had slipped, and that as a result, the company has decided to write off some of its low-speed modem inventory and that the sum involved, to be taken as a charge with its fourth quarter figures to June 30 will be over $1m – at the operating level, presumably; the company does not give any indication of whether it will report an overall loss, but says that while its new high-speed V32 line is picking up, it won’t make up the shortfall at the low end until well into the company’s fiscal 1989.
