Cypress Semiconductor revenue falls

NEW YORK, USA: Chipmaker Cypress Semiconductor Corp's quarterly revenue fell below analysts' estimates and the chipmaker said a weak global economy combined with delays in closing deals were limiting its growth prospects for the third quarter.

The company, which makes microcontrollers and chips used in touch-screen phones and tablets, said it expects third-quarter revenue to be flat but earnings to improve due to product mix and cost controls.

Rival Fairchild Semiconductor Inc forecast third-quarter revenue below expectations and posted weak second-quarter results that missed analysts' estimates.

Demand for chips has fallen over the last few quarters as customers were forced to trim their inventories, hurt by depressed PC sales.

Net income fell to $5 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with $40.8 million, for the second quarter, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Cypress earned 18 cents per share.

The San Jose, California-based company's revenue fell 21 per cent to $201.3 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 18 cents per share on revenue of $204.17 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company counts Samsung Electronics among its customers and competes with Synaptics Inc and Atmel Corp.

Shares of Cypress closed at $11.95 on Wednesday on the Nasdaq.