MUNICH, Germany — Infineon has raised its expectations for its Combined Segment Result by a slight margin: Instead of an increase "about 10 percent" as communicated earlier it now estimates in increase in the "low-teens" range.

Besides higher revenues owed to the somewhat improved market environment the company also expects better margins as a result of the ongoing cost reduction program.

The revenue expectations are likely fed by the good performance of Infineon's wireless business. Amongst others, this unit partakes in the success of Apple's 3GS iPhone for which it provides the baseband processor. However, Infineon refuses to comment on this topic.

In any case, Infineon anticipates a 'clearly positive' free cash flow and predicts a gross cash position of about € 850 million (about $ 1.18 billion) for the end of the quarter.

The positive figures could help Infineon to resolve its financial problems. By end of summer 2010, the company has to refinance debts of almost € 600 million.

"Despite the adverse overall economic climate and the difficult semiconductor market environment, our Combined Segment Result should approach break-even," said Infineon CEO Peter Bauer in a statement. "This improvement along with our favorable liquidity development is impressive evidence for the success of our operating performance, cost reduction, and cash preservation measures."

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