TI says its future lies in specialized chips
New York Times
DALLAS -- Texas Instruments Inc., having watched its profits plunge last year along with the price of memory chips, said Thursday it would shift its focus to the specialized chips that go into cellular telephones, computer components, such as modems, and automobiles. Thomas Engibous, who has reached agreements to sell the company's military electronics and laptop computer businesses during his first year as chief executive, said Texas Instruments' future lies in digital signal processors.
They are ``perhaps the single biggest opportunity that has come to us since the invention of the integrated circuit'' in 1958, he told analysts at a conference Thursday.
Overall, the company forecast a 10 percent rebound in global chip sales this year, after a 9 percent decline last year. Analysts called the company's estimate conservative, and Texas Instruments executives suggested that strengthening demand could push sales higher.
Texas Instruments shares fell $2.75 Thursday, or 3.3 percent, to $80.50. Other chip makers slipped as well. Some analysts and investors said chip stocks rose in recent days on the belief TI would be more optimistic about both the industry and its own prospects.
Analysts praised Engibous' efforts to give the company more focus. But some were disappointed executives denied there were plans to cut back their commitment to making memory chips. Instead, the executives would say only that they would monitor whether that business was meeting the company's broader profitability goals.
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Bloomberg News contributed to this report.
Published Friday, March 7, 1997, in the San Jose Mercury News |
