Despite the sale of Fairchild Semiconductor the Schlumberger Technologies arm of the Franco-American oil services company still accounts for about 16% of the company’s annual turnover of $4,730m, making it a $760m-a-year business, although scarcely a profitable one. There’s the rub, and the company says that it may well sell part or all of the business. The operation has four operating divisions in measurement and test, computer-aided design software and systems, computer-aided engineering, graphics and plotters, and some residual semiconductor interests. Well known names in the Schlumberger portfolio include French plotter maker Benson SA, UK test equipment maker Membrain, US computer aided design specialist Applicon, and instruments maker Solartron Inc, as well as substantial interests in research into artificial intelligence and embedded microprocessor Smart Cards in France all could well now be on the block.
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