The chief executive of European chipmaker STMicroelectronics told CNBC that the company had to be careful as it winds down a loss-making venture with telecoms operator Ericsson.
Despite seeing an increase in demand from customers in Europe and the U.S., Carlo Bozotti said the company had to "remain prudent."
"[Feeling] positive is a stretch," he told CNBC on Thursday. "We are encouraged because what we see from the start of the year is a good booking trend across the world and including Europe and we also have some positive indicators from the point of sales of our distributors serving a very large range of customers and the trend is good," he said.
"Now, is this sustainable? Of course, we do not know so we must remain prudent. We all understand the uncertainty at the macro-economic level but we are encouraged to see this trend."