Signs that things are far from rosy in the semiconductor market became even clearer after Texas Instruments (TI), National Semiconductor, and Altera posted profit warnings and gloomy results.

Natsemi's profit dropped by a steep 63 per cent in its latest quarter, and warned that revenues were likely to be down by a third in its current financial quarter.

Giant Texas Instruments said that revenues in its current quarter will drop by 35 per cent in its current quarter, while Altera also said sales will be down.

All three companies blamed lack of customer demand, underlining previous warnings made by Intel, AMD and a rash of Asian semi firms.

The CEO of Natsemi, Brian Halla, attributed the decline in revenues to the sapping of consumer confidence.

None of this, along with the news that Sony is to slash 8,000 jobs, will give the organisers of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) to be held in Las Vegas, Nevada, a happy feeling.

The ripples from giant firms like TI and Intel warning of declining revenues will spread far and wide. The semiconductor market has a very complex web of suppliers and customers - all will be affected by the gloomy news. X

Check Out
PC Industry has a great fall - news analysis
Sony to axe 8,000 jobs