UPDATE 2-Synaptics Q4 tops Street, sees weak Q1; shares slump

* Q4 adj EPS of 47 cents beats estimates by 3 cents

* Q4 revenue up 19 pct

* Sees Q1 sales of $113 mln - $119 mln

* Shares fall 19 pct after the bell (Adds analyst comments, conference call details)

BANGALORE, July 30 (Reuters) - Touchscreen technology maker Synaptics Inc (SYNA.O) posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, but forecast first-quarter revenue below Wall Street expectations, sending its shares down 19 percent.

The company also named Chief Operating Officer Thomas Tiernan as its new chief executive officer, replacing Francis Lee, who is retiring.

For the first quarter, Synaptics expects revenue of $113 million to $119 million, trailing analysts' consensus view of $127.4 million.

"We expect solid growth from mobile phone applications, while PC based revenue will decline, primarily reflecting the expected decrease in revenue from multi-media control applications, as well as a generally lower priced touchpad product mix," the company said in a statement.

The company also expects fiscal 2010 revenue of $495 million to $525 million versus analysts' consensus view of $522.4 million.

"Looking out to the remainder of fiscal 2010, it's challenging, given the macro uncertainty, which is evident in the cautious order patterns we see from our OEM customers," the company said on a conference call with analysts.

For fiscal year 2009, 57 percent of the company's revenue came from PC applications, and non-PC applications which is represented primarily by mobile phones and portable digital entertainment devices contributed the rest.

"The company has previously been operating in a competitive bubble with no competitive threat and that is now changing," Capstone Investment analyst Jeff Schreiner said. "The premium companies were previously willing to pay Synaptics for the know-how and design knowledge is likely beginning to shrink."

Q4 AHEAD OF STREET

Fourth-quarter net income increased to $13.1 million, or 36 cents per share, from $2.6 million, or 7 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 47 cents a share. Revenue rose 19 percent to $115.3 million.

Analysts expected earnings of 44 cents a share, excluding exceptional items, on revenue of $112.1 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Exiting the June quarter, the company had a backlog of $62.8 million.

Shares of the company were trading down $6.85 at $29 after the bell. They closed at $35.85 Thursday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Shrutika Verma in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)