SiliconBeat

Intel, the world’s largest chip manufacturer, and Linear Technology, one of its more profitable ones, both reported solid results Tuesday for their most recent quarters, but sounded notes of uncertainty going forward.

Intel, which reported a 12 percent jump  in profits for its third quarter on a 1 percent gain in revenue, said “it is hard to know what impact the financial crisis  will have on end customer demand,” according to its chief executive, Paul Ottelini, who nevertheless expressed confidence that the company should “outpace peer companies at a time when business levels are difficult to predict.”

Linear Technology, which said it met its guidance for the most recent quarter, was less sanguine. Its CEO, Lothar Maier, said that “during the latter part of the September quarter and especially through early October,” Linear began to see a decrease in new order bookings across all end-markets. “We believe the current credit crisis and related economic uncertainty have begun to affect the semiconductor industry.”