Intel forecasts a big drop in margins and AMD lays off 15 percent of its workforce.
Cutting prices means an immediate drop in margins, and market-share gains could take years to materialise.
Ian Harnett of Absolute Strategy Research, a consultancy, says European non-financial companies are likely to suffer a 30% drop in margins, given the economic outlook; this could translate into a 50% decline in profits over the cycle.
Samsung's earnings were hurt by a drop in margins in its mobile phone division, which saw operating income fall 18% quarter-on-quarter.
Lennar hasn't been able to cut sales, general and administrative expenses sufficiently to offset the drop in margins, he said, "in part, because employee costs haven't dropped as quickly as revenue".
Ask him who won some obscure House race in some little-known patch of Kansas or Maine or Florida, way back in 1982, and he will recite the name, then drop in the margin of victory, just to show off.
Weak sales could presage a drop in profit margins, he said.
A drop in refining margins from processing oil into fuels weighed on earnings and pushed the so-called downstream business into a loss.
Apple issued a conservative forecast for the fourth quarter, predicting revenue of about $5.7 billion and earnings per share of about 65 cents, as well as a drop in profit margins.
Shares of Intel fell more than 1% after the company lowered its earnings forecast, blaming a drop in gross margins.
