Each fills a sophisticated niche beyond the reach of Japan's semiconductor giants.

Motorola Inc., the telecommunications and semiconductor giant, reported another quarter of strong sales and profit growth today, which could provide a lift to flagging technology stocks.

The semiconductor giant closed at $41.56 yesterday, down $2.88.

She bought Texas Instruments, the semiconductor giant, at $64 a share in November.

Figure: By the end of 1998, a $100 investment made five years earlier in Intel, the semiconductor giant, was worth $805.

Still, it will be the first time since the 1980's that the semiconductor giant has reduced the size of its payroll.

Samsung Electronics, a semiconductor giant with a global investor base, had no great desire to acquire a third-rate competitor.

Increasingly, the semiconductor giants are farming out part of their work to contractors like Taiwan Semiconductor.

Indeed, some American executives, seeing how Japan's semiconductor giants almost dominate the world, say laissez-faire Washington could learn a few lessons from Europe.

No company, not even a longtime semiconductor giant like Texas Instruments, can expect to produce a home-run product in analog electronics.