Shares of Firms Involved in Xbox Mostly Lower

Shares in companies that make hardware for Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox were mostly lower after chip maker Cirrus Logic Inc. warned of a revenue shortfall from slack production of the video game console.

Cirrus shares fell 43 cents, or 6.6%, to $6.11 on Nasdaq, after the company warned that revenue this quarter would be as much as 16% below guidance because of lower-than-expected sales to Thomson Multimedia.

Cirrus sells its chips to France’s Thomson, which builds them into the DVD drive for the Xbox.

Thomson denied production was down, saying its Xbox-related orders have exceeded the contractually mandated production. Microsoft representatives were not immediately available for comment, nor were representatives of Cirrus.

Other shares closing lower on Nasdaq after the news were Nvidia Corp., which makes graphics chips for the Xbox, down $1.10, or 5.2%, at $20.07, and Flextronics International Ltd., which builds the Xbox, down 73 cents, or 8.4%, at $7.92. Solectron Corp., which provides Xbox repair services, fell 14 cents, or 2.6%, to $5.21 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Also feeling the effect of the news was Western Digital Corp., which makes Xbox hard drives, down 24 cents, or 7.1%, at $3.16 on the NYSE.

Recovering from earlier losses to close higher were Texas Instruments Inc., which makes USB parts for the Xbox, up 80 cents, or 3.4%, at $24.23 on the NYSE; and Intel Corp., which makes the Xbox motherboard and central processor, up 29 cents, or 1.6%, at $18.61 on Nasdaq.

Microsoft shares were largely unaffected, down $1.18, or 2.2%, at $54.13 on Nasdaq.