As the effects of the Asian financial crisis continue to ripple down, Hyundai Business Group recently became the latest South Korean family conglomerate or chaeobol to warn of impending lay-offs across its subsidiaries. Although its auto division is set to bear the brunt of layoffs – 10,000 jobs are said to be on the line – the boom is also set fall on Hyundai Electronics Industries Co Ltd’s Hyundai Computer Systems group, which is to be folded into Hyundai Information Technology (HIT). Hyundai Electronics Industries, which has already stopped selling PCs in North America through its Hyundai Electronic America subsidiary, is reportedly set to end the production of PCs for its local market too. Hyundai Electronics America owns Concord, Massachusetts-based Axil Computer Systems Inc whose eight-way Intel cross-bar technologies and systems will now be sold in South Korea by HIT.
