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Politics : Idea Of The Day -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: IQBAL LATIF who wrote (44622)	9/17/2003 6:42:00 PM
From: IQBAL LATIF	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 50167

But NSM - says something different.. Chipmaker Hesitates to Say Sector is Back Wed September 17, 2003 03:50 PM ET SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The chief executive of chip maker National Semiconductor Corp. NSM.N said on Wednesday he remains hesitant to say his battered industry has recovered from its long slump but noted that customers are placing orders at a "healthy" pace. He also backed the company's current quarter outlook for revenue gains of 4 percent to 7 percent from the August-ended quarter. "The actions of our OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) would indicate there is a recovery, " Brian Halla, National Semiconductor's chairman, president and chief executive, said in an interview with Reuters. However, Halla said it is too early to say if chip makers are in a sustained recovery from a three-year downturn, echoing a statement he made earlier this month after the company reported a higher quarterly profit. National Semiconductor, of Santa Clara, California, earlier this month posted a sharp rise in its fiscal first-quarter profit on almost flat revenue as a result of cost cutting, market share gains, higher selling prices, and higher factory utilization. Speaking at a Banc of America Securities investor conference in San Francisco, Halla on Wednesday said National Semiconductor, which competes with Texas Instruments Inc. TXN.N and STMicroelectronics STM.PA , remains comfortable with its revenue outlook. Meanwhile, Texas Instruments Chairman and Chief Executive Tom Engibous on Wednesday told the same conference that the U.S. economy is clearly recovering, and sales of microchips will grow faster than analysts have predicted amid a rise in demand for advanced chips in consumer electronics. "We are clearly in that recovery mode," Engibous told Reuters after a presentation the Banc of America conference. "Corporate America is more focused on revenue growth than cost cutting." Halla said there will be a seasonal boost to his company's expected revenue growth from back-to-school and holiday shopping in the current quarter, and that the projected revenue growth for the current quarter will be led by sales of chip products used for power management, notebook PCs, display technology, and handsets.