SiliconBeat

Atheros Communications significantly lowered its estimate for its fourth quarter sales to between $95 million and $100 million, about 30 percent below the “record” sales it reported for its 20087 third quarter, a much bigger decline than the at-most 5 percent decline it projected on Oct. 27, according to a filing the Santa Clara company made Wednesday after the markets closed.

“The economic environment deteriorated significantly throughout the fourth quarter and consumer demand across multiple geographies weakened,” according to Atheros Chief Executive Craig Barratt, in a written statement. “Additionally throughout the supply chain there have been aggressive reductions in inventory levels as the quarter progressed resulting in order cancellations and rescheduling of existing backlog. While we anticipated a weakening economy in the fourth quarter, demand from our PC OEM channel and to a lesser extent, our networking channel, slowed considerably more than expected.”