SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Apple marketing wizard Phil Schiller defended the $329 price of the new iPad mini tablet, saying consumers will be willing to pay for quality not found in less expensive devices from rivals like Google and Amazon.

With competition growing from tablets that are smaller and less expensive than Apple’s wildly popular iPads, Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook and Schiller on Tuesday took the wraps off the new 7.9-inch tablet, which essentially has most of the functions and features of the full-size iPad but in a smaller package.

SAN JOSE (Reuters) – Apple Inc is expected to make its biggest product move on Tuesday since debuting the iPad two years ago, launching a smaller, cheaper tablet into a market staked out by Amazon.com Inc and Google Inc.

Apple hopes to beat back their charge onto its home turf of consumer electronics hardware, while safeguarding its lead in the larger 10-inch tablet space that even deep-pocketed rivals like Samsung Electronics have found tough to penetrate.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Texas Instruments Inc’s quarterly revenue fell as demand for its chips slipped on economic concerns, and the company forecast more weakness this quarter in all its customer segments.

The U.S. chipmaker, which supplies companies ranging from computer makers to automakers, said its customers are ordering fewer chips than expected for this time of the year as they are nervous about weak end-market demand.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – PC chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices said it will cut its workforce by 15 percent in a bid to reduce operating expenses, its second round of layoffs in less than a year as it struggles with a weak global economy and a consumer shift toward tablets.

The chipmaker, with a staff of nearly 12,000, said in a statement it expects its restructuring actions, which will also include site consolidations, to result in operational savings of $190 million next year. It expects to record a restructuring expense in the fourth quarter of about $80 million.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 16 (Reuters) – Intel’s weak outlook for
fourth-quarter revenue and margins dispelled lingering hopes for
a revival in PC demand towards the end of the year, pushing its
shares lower.

The company’s quarterly report on Tuesday followed a warning
by the top chipmaker in September that demand was weaker than
expected and that revenue would fall far short of its forecast.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Intel forecast gross margins for the current quarter below expectations in a PC industry fighting a weak global economy and a shift by consumers toward tablets and smartphones.

Intel’s third-quarter report on Tuesday followed a warning by the top chipmaker in September that demand was weaker than expected and that revenue would fall far short of its forecast.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – As tablets and smartphones draw more and more users away from PCs, Intel Corp is facing some difficult questions.

Intel, the world’s leading chipmaker, is used to being king of the personal computer market, particularly through its historic “Wintel” alliance with Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O: Quote, Profile, Research), which led to breathtakingly high profit margins and an 80 percent market share.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – As tablets and smartphones draw more and more users away from PCs, Intel Corp is facing some difficult questions.

Intel, the world’s leading chipmaker, is used to being king of the personal computer market, particularly through its historic “Wintel” alliance with Microsoft Corp, which led to breathtakingly high profit margins and an 80 percent market share.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Micron Technology’s chief executive said he expects to complete an acquisition of failed Japanese memory chipmaker Elpida Memory Inc. in the first half of next year, despite opposition from a group of bondholders.

Micron agreed in early July to buy Elpida for about $750 million in cash and pay creditors a total of $1.75 billion in annual installments through 2019.

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Chipmaker Advanced Micro
Devices Inc said its third-quarter revenue likely fell
10 percent from the previous quarter as a weak global economy
and growing preference for tablets slams the PC industry.

AMD’s pre-announcement is the latest warning about the
troubled PC industry. It follows Intel’s warning in September
that its quarterly revenue would be much lower than expected.