Lasse Penttinen
30 Dec 2004 9:52
The major semiconductor manufacturer ESS warned that their Q4 results would be below expectations. The company puts the blame on slowing demand of DVD and VCD players. Their announcement caused a 6 percent fall in their shares, and it was reflected to other chip makers' shares as well.
The warning came as little surprise to analysts. ESS had issued a similar pre-announcement before its third-quarter earnings release, in which it warned of a slowdown in demand for DVD players. See full story.Source: MarketWatch
In the fourth quarter, growing inventories have combined with sharp price competition to hurt the company. Stanford Financial analyst Chris Chaney said MediaTek, a Taiwanese chipmaker, has been trying to take market share in the DVD player segment, which has resulted in lower prices.