Handset chipmakers' shares fall on Triquint's customer warning

* Shares of mobile phone chipmakers fall

* Concerns over inventory correction at Korean handset maker

By Savio D'Souza

Oct 22 (Reuters) - Shares of TriQuint Semiconductor (TQNT.O) sank about a third after it warned that a Korean handset customer would slow mobile phone production, pulling down rival mobile phone chipmakers like RF Micro Devices (RFMD.O), Skyworks Solutions (SWKS.O) and Anadigics Inc (ANAD.O).

Although TriQuint did not name the customer, Samsung Electronics (005930.KS) and LG Electronics (066570.KS) are among the company's major customers in South Korea.

Skyworks, RF Micro and Anadigics count Samsung and LG among their major customers in the handset business, and TriQuint's warning coupled with its bleak fourth-quarter outlook could portend a similar fate for its rivals. [ID:nBNG442903]

One Korea-based handset customer was making a material adjustment in its demand to burn off excess inventory, which would "influence" results, Triquint's Chief Executive Ralph Quinsey said.

TriQuint's handset business, which accounts for nearly half of its revenue, was flat sequentially in its latest third quarter.

For Anadigics, sales to Samsung accounted for about 16 percent of total sales in 2008 while LG accounted for under 10 percent of sales, according to a regulatory filing.

The highest demand for Skyworks' mobile handset products generally occurs in quarter ending in December, according to a regulatory filing.

Shares of TriQuint lost about a third of their value and were trading down at $5.9. RF Micro's and Skyworks' shares were down more than 6 percent. Anadigics was down about 9 percent in late afternoon trade on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Savio D'Souza in Bangalore, Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)