National Instruments Feels the Pinch Too

National Instruments saw revenue for the second quarter of 2009 decline 28% compared with the same period last year to $152 million. Quarterly revenue was also down 4% compared with the previous quarter, but orders were up 1% sequentially, adding $6 million to the company's order backlog. Net income for the quarter was $4.4 million. Revenue from virtual instrumentation and graphical system design products, now the majority of the product portfolio, was down 26% year-over-year, while sales of instrument control products, now just 6% of total revenue, were down 46%. As a result product revenue was down 29% at $140 million, while software maintenance revenue was down 17% at $12 million. Europe suffered worst with revenue in U.S. dollar terms down 35% compared with a 25% fall in Asia and a 23% fall in the U.S. Intriguingly, the European decline is attributed at least in part to the fact that Easter this year fell in the second rather than the first quarter. NI president and CEO James Truchard believes that "our strategic investment in R&D in recent years has allowed us to deliver highly differentiated products, which are helping us outperform competitors and should position us well for the eventual recovery."