Texas Instruments profit decline results in layoffs

DESPITE POSTING AN It-could-have-been-worse fourth quarter profit decline, Texas Instruments has still decided to chain saw massacre, er, axe 3,400 employees.

In a statement we may as well have copy-pasted from any other tech firm scrapping its workforce, TI CEO, Rich Templeton, says the firm is "realigning our expenses" in a "global economy that continues to weaken."

Demand for cellphone chips has dropped off rather drastically over the past few months, causing TI net profits to plunge from $756 million, or 54 cents a share, in 2007 to $107 million, or 7 cents a share, in the December quarter of 2008. The latest quarter also purportedly included restructuring charges of 13 cents a share and revenue fell to $2.49 billion from $3.56 billion a year ago.

Still, at least TI has managed to stay in the black and prove that some profit is better than a very big and embarrassing loss *cough AMD cough*.

TI also reckons 1,600 of the 3,400 employees to get their pink slips took "voluntary retirements and departures".

According to the company press release, there are still plenty of tough times ahead for TI, which is predicting a possible loss for the first quarter of 2009 as its factory manufacturing capacity rates drop from 48 per cent in last year's fourth quarter, to just 35 per cent in this. µ