Here are excerpts from the quarterly reports of a group of large, multinational companies spanning the electronics “food chain.”  The accompanying charts show these companies’ historical revenues, net income and inventories.  1Q’08 first quarter guidance (when provided) is highlighted in a magenta bar on the charts.

I chose these companies as a cross section of the food chain without bias for good or poor performers.

Hewlett-Packard ( Chart 1 )

"We are raising our guidance yet again, reflecting our confidence in anticipated cost reductions and share gains in key markets," said Mark Hurd, HP chairman and chief executive officer. "We added more than 2,000 sales positions in the past year through acquisitions and hiring. HP remains well positioned for profitable growth as we continue to focus on our numerous cost initiatives and improve our market coverage." Feb 19, 2008

	Chart 1

IBM ( Chart 2 )

"IBM had a terrific fourth quarter and full year with record revenue, profit and cash. The broad scope of our global business --- led by strong operational performance in Asia, Europe and emerging countries --- as well as continued growth in services and software drove these outstanding results," said Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer. "As we begin 2008, IBM is well-positioned as a result of our global business reach, solid recurring revenue and profit streams, and strong financial position. We are on track to achieve our long-term earnings-per-share roadmap objective in 2010." Jan 17, 2008

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Cisco Systems ( Chart 3 )

"Cisco delivered another solid quarter with strong revenue and order growth driven by a broad base of geographies, products, services and customer markets," said John Chambers, chairman and CEO, Cisco. "Cisco's ability to understand market transitions, whether technology or business model-based, continues to be a key contributing factor to our long-term success."

Chambers continued, "As we enter the second half of the fiscal year, our innovation pipeline is in excellent shape, our balanced product momentum across core and advanced technologies continues to be solid, and execution against our long-term strategy remains unwavering. This constant evolution of moving into new markets and product adjacencies, alongside our core operational and financial strength, is the hallmark of Cisco's ability to act upon key market transitions."  Feb 6, 2008

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Seagate Technology ( Chart 4 )

"Seagate's strong financial performance in the quarter reflects the company's solid business model and expanded product portfolio, which positioned us well in a favorable industry environment characterized by seasonal strength across all storage markets and continued growth in global demand," said Bill Watkins, Seagate chief executive officer. "During the quarter, Seagate achieved record shipments and experienced some capacity constraints, underscoring the phenomenal growth of digital content in both the consumer and commercial markets. Based on unit demand across all categories, we entered the March quarter in a position of strength. The storage industry remains one of the world's most important and exciting industries. We are confident Seagate's vision, technology, and operational excellence will drive us to continued strong financial and operating performance in the March quarter and double-digit year-over-year growth." Jan. 17, 2008

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Motorola ( Chart 5 )

"We are focused on aggressively rationalizing the company's cost structure and working to get Mobile Devices back on track," said Greg Brown, chief executive officer of Motorola. "The recovery in Mobile Devices will take longer than expected and there is a lot more work to be done. Our primary focus is on improving profitability and enhancing our product portfolio in this business. At the same time, we are very pleased with the continued strong performance of our Home and Networks Mobility and Enterprise Mobility Solutions businesses."

"During the fourth quarter, we completed several cost actions to improve efficiencies in Mobile Devices and across our organization," said Tom Meredith, acting chief financial officer of Motorola. "We remain focused on further improving our operating cash flow and cash conversion cycle, while continuing to drive cost savings opportunities."  Jan. 23, 2008

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Nokia ( Chart 6 )

Q4 2007 Estimated Device Market Share Reached 40%, With significantly increased margins and quarterly operating cash flow of EUR 2.7 billion.

	Chart 6

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, Nokia CEO said: "Nokia's excellent fourth quarter contributed to a year of high growth and increased profitability for the company, while our industry leading product portfolio drove our device business to an estimated 40% market share in the fourth quarter. At the same time we again increased our quarterly device margins, allowing Nokia to continue to invest for innovation and growth.

"It was a year of important strategic initiatives by Nokia, with Nokia Siemens Networks starting operations, our internet services effort taking shape around Ovi, and the announcement of the pending acquisition of NAVTEQ. Facing a market that remains intensely competitive, we are continuing to improve our leading device portfolio as well as execution at Nokia Siemens Networks. With this we believe Nokia is well positioned for growth in 2008." Jan. 24, 2008

Applied Materials ( Chart 7 )

"We executed well in a challenging global chip equipment market," said Mike Splinter, president and CEO. "The strength in our new orders reflects robust demand for our display products and recognition of our first Applied SunFab Thin Film Line orders.”

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"This is a pivotal year for Applied and we are focused on execution and growth throughout the company. Our long-term prospects are excellent as we build on our foundation of semiconductor equipment and services to add new businesses and move into new markets," concluded Splinter. Feb. 13, 2008

Medtronic ( Chart 8 )

"Our quarterly performance reflected the double digit growth in our Neuromodulation, Diabetes, Spinal and ENT businesses and the successful close of the Kyphon acquisition," said Bill Hawkins, Medtronic president and CEO. "We are pleased with our ICD sales which demonstrate our strong customer loyalty and the flexibility of our company to respond to dynamic inflections in our business." Feb. 19, 2008

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Northrop Grumman ( Chart 9  )

"This was an outstanding quarter across the board for Northrop Grumman and a great finish to 2007. For the quarter we achieved record sales, strong segment operating margin, and outstanding cash from operations and free cash flow. All four businesses performed well, posting double-digit increases in operating margin," said Ronald D. Sugar, Northrop Grumman chairman and chief executive officer.

"For 2007, we achieved record sales, operating margin, earnings per share, cash from operations and free cash flow, while increasing backlog $3 billion to $64 billion. We have a great foundation for the future. For 2008, the focus will continue to be on driving performance and executing our balanced cash deployment strategy. We expect continued sales and EPS growth with strong cash from operations and free cash flow. This solid outlook supports investments for the future and shareholder value-enhancing actions such as our new $2.5 billion share repurchase program," Sugar concluded.  Jan. 24, 2008

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Raytheon ( Chart 10 )

"2007 was a very successful year for the company; we grew sales 8% in 2007 while increasing operating income by 20%," said William H. Swanson, Raytheon Chairman and CEO. "We ended the year with record bookings and backlog, which positions us well for 2008 and beyond."  Jan. 31, 2008

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AT&S (Austria Technologie & Systemtechnik AG) ( Chart 11 )

Highlights

• Total revenue up 9.4% to 114.7m ($US150.6m)
• Net profit growth 37.5% to 9.2m ($US12.1m)

	Chart 11

TTM Technologies ( Chart 12 )

Kent Alder, President and CEO of TTM, noted, "We delivered a solid performance in the fourth quarter, fueled by strong demand for our high tech manufacturing services, as well as from our aerospace/defense customers. Against a backdrop of challenging macroeconomic conditions, fourth quarter revenue, gross and operating margins and earnings per share all grew significantly over the third quarter. This is a testament to our improving operating efficiencies and clearly validates our ability to execute." Alder added, "Our growth strategy is working, and we will continue to strengthen our capabilities and enhance our leadership position in the industry." Feb. 7, 2008

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Revenue grew 49% in 4Q’08 versus 4Q’07.

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Flextronics ( Chart 14 )

"Overall demand in the December quarter was exceptionally strong as revenues and earnings exceeded the high end of our guidance," said Thomas Smach, chief financial officer of Flextronics. "Actual revenue in the quarter was $9.1 billion versus our guidance of $8.5 billion and adjusted EPS was $0.30 versus our guidance of $0.26."

"Our strong financial position provides us with substantial flexibility to make synergistic investments to enhance our competitiveness, expand our capabilities, drive revenue growth and enhance profitability," said Mike McNamara, chief executive officer of Flextronics. "We remain intensely focused on generating a higher return on capital while growing our business, as evidenced by the return on invested capital of 11.9%, which increased 70 basis points from the previous quarter."  (Jan. 29, 2008)

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Intel ( Chart 15 )

"We enter 2008 with the best combination of products, silicon technology and manufacturing leadership in our history."  (Jan. 15, 2008)

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Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company ( Chart 16 )

Revenue increased 21% in 4Q’07 versus 4Q’06. (I think he means 06 by the chart.

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Orbotech ( Chart 17 )

Revenues from bare and assembled PCB-related products increased significantly in the fourth quarter, reflecting strong customer demand in these areas of the company's business. A record of 26 Paragon solid state laser direct imaging systems were sold during the quarter, bringing Paragon sales for 2007 to an annual record of 97 systems. During the quarter, the company also sold six Maxiprint legend ink jet printer systems, which were developed by the company's recently acquired Italian subsidiary, New System Srl.

The company recorded annual FPD revenues for 2007 of $49.7 million, which was in line with expectations. As a result of strong demand for panels and the stabilization of panel prices during the fourth quarter, LCD customers have reportedly finalized their plans for new fabrication facilities to be constructed during 2008 and 2009. This is reflected in the company's record bookings during the quarter, which included primarily large orders from first-tier LCD manufacturers. (Feb. 19, 2008)

	Chart 17