Texas Instruments reports weak demand in Q4
Telecompaper writes…Texas Instruments reported weak demand in the fourth quarter, with its sales falling 8 percent from the previous three months to USD 3.46 billion. The chipmaker said the market was “unseasonably weak”, with customers wanting fewer inventories and the mobile handset segment skewed to either low-cost basic phones or expensive, full-featured editions. TI’s revenues were still up 4 percent from the year-earlier period, while net profit rose to USD 668 million from USD 655 million in 2005.
The company forecast for the first quarter revenues of USD 3.01-3.28 billion and EPS at USD 0.28-0.34 versus USD 0.45 in the fourth quarter. TI’s orders were worth USD 3.08 billion at the end of 2006, down USD 352 million from three months earlier. It also announced plans to cut around 500 jobs this year as it moves R&D for digital process technology more to its foundry partners and closes an older digital factory. Overall, the move is expected to lower annual costs by around USD 200 million and result in charges of USD 55 million.
