Infineon explores Qimonda stake cut after weak Q3

"I think that's just timing and they'll come back over the next quarter, but I think people were hoping for a bit more."

IMPROVEMENTS SEEN

Infineon reiterated it expected its wireless business to break even in the fourth calendar quarter but did not mention its previous goal of breaking even at the EBIT level this fiscal year after the poor results from Qimonda this week.

Overall, sales should improve this quarter and EBIT should show a strong increase, Infineon said.

"With positive EBIT and an improved EBIT margin in the third quarter, Infineon excluding Qimonda made further progress towards sustainable profitability," Ziebart said in a statement.

"Going forward, we aim for further improvements in our EBIT margin and we will continue to strengthen our core businesses."

The company said revenue would be driven by mobile phone chips after a number of important customer wins recently, such as with Apple for its iPhone.

In the third quarter, Infineon won new contracts from telecoms equipment makers Ericsson and ZTE but did not announce any new handset makers as customers.

In the third quarter, Infineon narrowed the operating loss at its communications division, Com, to 34 million euros, as expected. Sales of 259 million euros at the division were lighter than expected.

The Automotive, Industrial and Multi-market division posted EBIT of 81 million euros, boosted by the disposal gain, and sales of 752 million euros, in line with expectations. Excluding the gain, AIM sales declined slightly from the previous quarter.