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Technology Stocks : Texas Instruments - Good buy now or should we wait? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (4236)	1/20/1999 9:01:00 PM
From: Patriarch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6180

INTERVIEW-TI aims to outpace digital market January 20, 1999 06:11 PM By Marcus Kabel DALLAS, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Diversified semiconductor maker Texas Instruments Inc. TXN aims to continue growing its crucial digital signal processing business faster than the overall market in 1999 after outpacing the sector last year, Chief Financial Officer Bill Aylesworth said on Wednesday. "It is certainly a safe assumption that that is our objective," Aylesworth told Reuters in a telephone interview from the company's Dallas headquarters. TI's sales of computer chips for digital cellular phones and wireless communication rose 29 percent in 1998, as against an overall market growth of 9 or 10 percent for digital signal processing (DSP) chips, he said. "We significantly outgrew the market. With our position in areas like wireless and hard disk drive, and in others in the mass market, our objective is to continue to do that," Aylesworth said after TI released fourth quarter results. DSP and associated analog technology, which translate sound and signals from phones and other devices into data that computers understand, accounted for 59 percent of $337 million in fourth quarter sales in TI's principal business segment, semiconductors. The business has advanced to a strategic core activity at Texas Instruments since a major restructuring last year that included the sale of its loss-making DRAM memory chip activities. TI did not provide a revenue figure for digital signal processing and related chips, but said the business accounted for 59 percent of $337 million in total sales for the semiconductor business in the fourth quarter of 1998. DSP revenues rose 13 percent in the fourth quarter from the prior three months, as against a 6 percent drop in overall semiconductor sales, TI said. "That really reflects continuing strength in a principle market for these chips, which is the wireless market, primarily for digital cellphones," Aylesworth said. "But there is also ongoing improvement in a couple of other markets that had been weaker during early 1998, the market for hard disk drives that go into computers and also what we call the mass market for DSP and analog chips." "We're seeing improvement in those market which we think is quite encouraging for prospects for 1999," he said. Aylesworth said economic conditions continued to be strong in the United States and Europe and there were some signs of revival in Asia outside of Japan, which remained the slowest major market. But Japan's stronger yen raised the dollar value of sales. "Overall in the fourth quarter we saw revenue growth in all four of those regions around the world and we would generally expect that to continue," he said. Aylesworth also said year-end holiday sales of products using TI's DSP technology and other semiconductors had gone better than expected. "There was good take-away in the wireless market pretty much around the world, good take-away in the personal computer market. We think that really sets the prospects for continued growth in these market areas on a world-wide basis." ((New York newsroom, 212 859-1700, fax 212 859-1717, or nyc.equities.newsroom@reuters.com)) REUTERS

To: Mephisto who wrote (4236)	1/20/1999 9:54:00 PM
From: long-gone	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6180

Market feels "funny" at best. I think,IMHO, (based on history) a split is a sure thing. If market is anything near decent for a month after it happens, It will be right back up where it is at, after the split, in 6 months. After hearing AG today, I won;t bet on it. Glad to hear about your trip. Don't count on it staying at those prices, $ can't stay this strong for ever - the way we are importing & not exporting. Lana says she is fine, but busy, - thanks for asking. rh