Revenue slips for Texas Instruments

TI took in $2.72 billion in orders in the quarter, it said, which was down 5% from the year-earlier period and down 16% from Q3′s level. Outlook - For the first quarter of 2013, TI expects:

• Revenue: $2.69 – 2.91 billion
• Earnings per share: $0.24 – 0.32
• At the middle of this range, revenue is expected to be down $179 million sequentially. About $135 million, or about 75 percent, of this decline is expected to come from Wireless products for the smartphone and consumer tablet markets from which the company is exiting.

"We continue to operate in a weak demand environment," said Rich Templeton, TI's chairman, president and CEO. "Our visibility into future demand remains limited as our lead times are short and our customers are reluctant to commit to extended backlog. On the positive side, we believe customers and distributors are operating with lean inventory. Our own operations are disciplined and performing well, with gross margin up despite increased underutilization costs, and with operating expenses down from a year ago."