Texan chip maker, Dallas Semiconductor Corp, said its commitment to new products and new markets was the reason it has remained profitable through the current semiconductor market slump. Third quarter net profits were still down 20.9%, however, at $13.4m while revenues fell 10.7% to $83.1m and the earnings figure was just short of the consensus of estimates at $0.45 per share. A weak market for semiconductor products continues to impact our sales, said chief executive Vin Prothro. Year on year, shipments into North American markets were marginally lower, while those into Europe and Asia were down by 20% and 19% respectively, he said. But the results are perhaps better than Prothro was expecting back in August when he described the difficult third quarter as comprising two months you wish would never happen, followed by September. On Thursday, Prothro said his company was responding to intense market pressures by stringently controlling costs while intensifying new product developments, particularly in the communications market which currently accounts for more than a quarter of revenues. Dallas Semiconductor is also the world’s biggest manufacturer of monitoring chips for rechargeable battery packs. And bucking the trend of recent plant closures amongst its bigger rivals, Dallas Semiconductor said it had actually opened a new fabrication facility in the period, giving substance to the company’s claims that its positioning itself for the market rebound. Results were released after the close of markets but while the technology sector continues to suffer, Dallas Semi’s share closed up 7.5% at $25.
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