Texas Instruments is to announce 2,000 job losses anytime soon, according to the Wall Street Journal. The company provides the chips for about two-thirds of the world's mobiles phones, so you'd think it would be doing a roaring trade. But no. It shut down its Californian plant last month, firing 600 staff.

Now, thanks to a fall in demand, it's looking at losing another 2,000 employees. The exact number will depend on how many staff are willing to take voluntary retirement.

Texas said in January that it expected first quarter earnings to fall. Its Q4 results last year showed a 22 per cent profit increase but this was still below what the stock market expected. ®