Qualcomm lowers profit forecast
San Francisco: Mobile telephones microchip designer, Qualcomm Inc. released a lowered first-quarter profit forecast on Thursday, citing higher legal costs and a deferred payment from a customer.

Qualcomm said it expected quarterly profit, excluding special items such as stock-based compensation and tax provisions, to be 41 cents to 42 cents per diluted share, compared with a previous estimate of 42 cents to 44 cents.

The company also said it expected pro forma revenue for the quarter to be at the high end of its previous forecast of $1.98 billion to $2.08 billion.

Shares of Qualcomm fell 1.4 percent to $38 in extended trading, after closing up 23 cents at $38.54 on Nasdaq.

Qualcomm is involved in several legal disputes, including one with rival Broadcom Corp over patents and competitive practices.

Other disputes involve companies such as cellphone maker Nokia. Qualcomm is the biggest supplier of chips for cellphones based on CDMA the most widely used cellular technology in the US.
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Ford to slip to No 3 in US
Detroit: Ford Motor Co is expected to slip to the No. 3 automaker position in the United States next year as Japanese rival Toyota Motor Corp. zooms ahead in the country. Edmunds.com, which provides information on the U.S. auto market, said Toyota will overtake Ford by mid-2007 in sales volume.

Toyota for two months this year sold more vehicles than Ford, which has seen sales drop almost 8 percent in 2006. Toyota's U.S. sales, meanwhile, have increased nearly 13 percent over the same period.

Ford has said it is aiming to hold its overall share of the U.S. light vehicle market at between 14 percent to 15 percent, including fleet sales, from the current 17.7 percent as it restructures by shutting 16 plants and cutting more than 50,000 jobs.
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