Western Digital gave strong profit forecasts for the current quarter and the full year on Thursday and said the flash memory market would grow faster this year, easing investor jitters that the surging demand for memory chips was fading.

Texas Instruments on Tuesday posted the slowest revenue growth in four quarters on softer demand for its chips used in communications equipment, disappointing investors who expected sales for automotive chips to drive strong results.

If this is the case, it would be the first time that Apple has not retained the previous year's model to allow for a wide range of iPhones available at many price points.

Applied Materials reported better-than-expected quarterly results and gave a strong current-quarter forecast as the world's largest supplier of tools to make semiconductors enjoys strong demand in its chip and display businesses.

Samsung Electronics is expected to overtake Intel as the world's largest chipmaker in the current quarter, for the first time ever, on the back of strong demand for chips for mobile devices and data servers.

Western Digital has offered to acquire less than 20% of Japanese partner Toshiba's memory chip arm, compromising on its prior demand for a majority stake in a bid to get negotiations moving.

Tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Monday it is considering adding NAND memory chip production capacity at its manufacturing base in China amid an industry-wide boom that will likely fuel record sales for memory suppliers.

Texas Instruments, which has one of the biggest customer lists in the semiconductor business, gave an outlook suggesting demand remains strong for components across industries from cars to factory equipment.

The supply of Samsung Electronics' upcoming flagship smartphone, presumably the Galaxy S8, may fail to meet demand due to the sluggish production of Qualcomm chipsets, industry sources said Tuesday.

Intel is warning its channel partners that demand for SSDs is expected to outstrip supply for all of 2017, forcing the company to prioritize its production for data center SSDs over lower-cost consumer SSDs.

Micron Technology gained more than 7% in late trading Thursday after the chipmaker reported better earnings than expected amid reported price hikes for its memory chips.

Texas Instruments Inc., the largest maker of analog semiconductors, forecast first-quarter revenue and profit that may top projections, indicating stronger demand from makers of industrial equipment.

Samsung Electronics plans to mass produce 64-layer NAND flash memory for the first time in the world early in 2017, while SK hynix plans to mass produce 72-layer NAND flash in the second half of 2017 jumping over 64-layer NAND flash.

As the demand for localized processing has grown, FPGAs have offered a way to keep devices running without quickly draining the battery. Lattice Semiconductor, while it has a small share of the FPGA market, has distinguished itself by reducing its FPGA power draw down to the microwatt level.

Apple plans to ship at least one new iPhone with an OLED screen next year, the 10th anniversary of the smartphone's debut, people with knowledge of the matter said. A pair of other new iPhone models will likely feature screens that use older LCD technology, partly because there won't be enough OLED displays to satisfy anticipated demand, according to KGI Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo.

Applied Materials, the biggest maker of machinery used to produce chips and displays, predicted a jump in sales as customers spend on equipment needed to modernize production. The stock fell on concern that orders may have peaked.

Smartphone chipmaker Qualcomm, which agreed to buy NXP Semiconductors for about US$38 billion last week, reported a better-than-expected 13.3% rise in quarterly revenue, helped by strong demand, particularly in China.

Texas Instruments said profit shot up 21% in the latest quarter as continued strong demand in the automotive and industrial sectors helped the chip maker report results just above its forecast.

Laird said production growth for mobile devices this year had fallen, making it difficult to predict demand.

Tokyo Electron and Disco appear to have logged record sales in China in the six months through September.

Japan's Toshiba expects to post a bigger first-half profit than it previously forecast, boosted by rising flash memory chip prices and strong chip demand from Chinese smartphone manufacturers.

Orders for semiconductor-manufacturing equipment are picking up at seven major Japanese producers, underpinned by brisk demand for 3D memory and ravenous investment in chip miniaturization.

Better-than-expected demand for Samsung Electronics' new Galaxy Note 7 is causing supply constraints globally, the South Korean tech giant said on Wednesday, suggesting strong initial sales for the new premium smartphone.

Amit Daryanani of RBC Capital Markets issued a note to investors this week, a copy of which was provided to AppleInsider, discussing features widely rumored for Apple's upcoming "iPhone 7" series. Thanks to growing demand for larger "phablet" screens, he predicts that the "iPhone 7 Plus" will account for one-third of production at launch.

South Korean tech giant Samsung Electronics said on Thursday it expects solid earnings to continue in the second half of 2016, with stronger components demand likely offsetting heightened margin pressures for smartphones.

While we know nothing official about the next iPhone -- currently expected to be called the iPhone 7 -- all rumors and leaks suggest that it's going to be a pretty mediocre upgrade. But pent-up demand for a new iPhone from the two-thirds of owners who, by the time the new iPhone launches will be running hardware that's two or more years old, might buoy sales.

Seagate Technology, a maker of disk drives for computer storage, expanded plans to cut jobs to 14 percent of the workforce, seeking to reduce costs to weather a prolonged slump in demand.

Seagate Technology, a maker of disk drives for computers, said it's cutting about 3% of its workforce in an effort to reduce costs amid a slump in demand for PCs.

Taiwan's tech suppliers will get significantly fewer orders from Apple in the second half of 2016 compared with a year ago, no thanks to an ongoing slump in demand for premium smartphones and a lack of groundbreaking features for the upcoming iPhone 7, sources familiar with the matter told the Nikkei Asian Review.

Micron Technology gave a fiscal third-quarter forecast that missed analysts' estimates due to weaker demand for personal computer components.

On a positive note for TSMC, it looks like the company is gearing up for production in May of the "A10" processor for Apple's next flagship phone, presumably an "iPhone 7."

The outlook for PC shipments continues to call for eventual stabilization as competition from other devices eases, upgrades to new models and Windows 10 boost demand, and economic conditions around the world stabilize or improve. However, the decline in PC volume since early 2012 is still expected to linger through 2016 with later years struggling to boost volumes as economic issues and competing products continue to present headwinds, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

MediaTek and Orange have announced a new collaboration to market IoT tailored offerings embedding ready-to-use cellular connectivity to address the growing industrial demand for connected objects. The agreement will address professional developers and manufacturers of IoT devices including consumer electronics products.

Panasonic will cut 50 jobs in April at a factory that makes solar ingots in Oregon amid slowing demand for photovoltaic panels in Japan.

Japan's value of exports fell by 12.9% in January from a year earlier, supporting concerns that the slowdown in China - one of the country's most important trading partners - is continuing to hurt demand.

Chinese trade started 2016 on a weak note as January exports declined far more than expected in the face of weak demand and slower production ahead of the just-ended Lunar New Year holiday.

The smartphone business is maturing and Qualcomm is feeling it.

Applied Materials, the largest maker of machinery used to produce computer chips, rose the most since August after giving a first-quarter forecast that may meet analysts' estimates as orders from chipmakers showed signs of improvement.

Micron Technology's fourth-quarter profit fell sharply as lower selling prices again drove down revenue, underscoring the effects of weakened demand for personal computers.