1.   He blamed the margin decline on price erosion, plants producing below capacity because of lower-than-expected sales and poor sales of certain products.

2.   Meanwhile, the Western Digital chairman said the price erosion only extended to PC-related products.

3.   Notebooks have not suffered the sort of price erosion that has battered desktop PCs.

4.   Company executives have sought to control costs, especially in the consumer electronics sector where Philips faces steady price erosion of its products.

5.   Stiff competition and price erosion in the personal computer and semiconductor markets also contributed to the tumble, the company said.

6.   The impact of these changes has been the loss of revenue through marketshare losses and price erosion.

7.   The price erosion in memory devices hurt, it said.

8.   Another positive factor was the gradual slowing in commodity price erosion.