the dominant producer of semiconductors, generates nearly half of its $5 billion in revenes and an estimated 80 percent of its profits from that product line.But it concentrates on commodity chips that are vulnerable to market swings and environmental pressures.During 1985 and 1986, semiconductor orders were running at less than 75 percent of capacity. TI takes what one former executive calls a "brute force" approach to making semiconductors. that is, it spends hundreds of millions of dollar on new plants and works feverishly to operate them more efficiently than the competition, rather than concentrating on complex microprocessors, which they could establish a strong competitive advantage. Efficiency is fine, but when competition increases and prices fall, losses can result.