Dutch semiconductor-manufacturing equipment maker ASML said Wednesday it sees weak demand in memory chips, and adjusted its second half net sales guidance to the lower end of its earlier EUR2.2 billion-EUR2.4 billion range.

Slowing growth in China and India has hit prospects across the rest of Asia and led the Asian Development Bank to make the biggest cut in its regional economic growth forecast since 2008, according to its chief economist.

Applied Materials has forecast fiscal fourth-quarter sales that may fall short of analysts' estimates as some customers rein in expansion plans.

Struggling Japanese chip firm Renesas Electronics has forecast it will make a net loss of JPY150 billion (US$1.91 billion) driven by restructuring costs for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013, as it published sales down 11% sequentially for the first fiscal quarter, ended June 30.

Qualcomm has lowered its forecast of global cellular device shipments for 2012 due to a gloomy economic outlook, though it expects device sales to surge in the fourth quarter because of upcoming products, a likely reference to Apple's iPhone and Microsoft's Windows 8 tablets.

The company also revised its calendar year 2012 industry forecast for wafer fab equipment spending to US$30-33 billion, compared to its previous expectation of US$32-35 billion, in line with the market changes.

Xilinx rose as much as 8.1% in extended trading after forecasting sales this quarter that may beat some analysts' estimates.

Texas Instruments, the largest maker of analog semiconductors, rose in extended trading after forecasting second-quarter earnings that may top some analysts' estimates, buoyed by a revival in chip orders.

Barclays Capital is raising its total lithography units forecast by more than 10 systems, from 234 to 251 in 2012. As many as 260 litho tools could be purchased for semiconductor manufacturing, as foundries are seeing high demand for 28nm chips.

Applied Materials reached the highest in more than eight months after predicting higher profit than estimated, signaling that semiconductor makers are pulling out of a spending slump.

Cisco came up with an interesting prediction in its latest forecast of global mobile data traffic: by the end of this year, there will be more Internet-connected mobile devices than people on Earth.

In its China Economic Outlook report released Monday, the IMF said China's growth rate, which stood at 9.2% last year, would drop abruptly if the euro zone experienced a sharp recession.

Worldwide semiconductor revenues are forecast to reach US$309 billion in 2012, a 2.2% increase from 2011, according to Gartner. This outlook is down from Gartner's previous projection in the third quarter for 4.6% growth in 2012.

Seagate raised its forecast for the fourth quarter, providing a somewhat more optimistic view of the disk-drive component constraints that have affected the industry due to catastrophic Thai floods.

Applied Materials has forecast first-quarter sales and profit that fell short of analysts' predictions, a sign that semiconductor makers are scaling back expansion plans.

Nintendo has forecast its first annual loss in at least 30 years after the yen reached a postwar high and the new 3DS console had weaker-than-expected sales.

Sharp Corp cut its full-year operating profit forecast forecast by 12 percent, hit by sliding domestic television sales but the cut was not as bad as the market had feared.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has cut its growth forecasts for Asia over worries about eurozone debt and new fears for the US economy.

Japan's Sumco, the world's No.2 supplier of silicon wafers used to make chips, slashed its annual operating profit forecast by 37% on weak PC demand and slower-than-expected growth in smartphones and tablet PCs, and it said the fragile economy could make chip demand retreat further.

Semico Research now expects chip sales to decline 2% compared to 2010. It previously forecast that the chip market would grow by 6% in 2011.

Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter told analysts on a conference call that he is now expecting chipmakers to spend US$1 billion less on new equipment than the company forecast in July. "We've seen demand from our foundry customers soften significantly in the past six weeks," Splitner said.

Toshiba has said that operating profits for the fiscal quarter fell 88% as the earthquake hit its power operations and a strong yen bit into earnings, and it kept its annual forecast in line with expectations.

STMicroelectronics fell the most in a decade in Paris trading after CEO Carlo Bozotti said there will be a "correction" in sales and gross margin in the third quarter because of difficulties at customer Nokia.

South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics has slashed its forecast for 2011 smartphone sales as the company struggles to compete against aggressive giants like HTC, Samsung and Apple.

"It is a bit surprising that we have not seen a more significant impact on our global IT spending forecast as a results of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, but despite widespread concerns about disruptions to the supply of critical components in the initial aftermath of the natural disaster, there has not been a dramatic impact on overall IT spending," said Richard Gordon, research VP at Gartner.

Japan's industrial production rose for a second straight month in May, after falling sharply in the wake of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, but the increase in factory output was lower than the government had forecast.

Imagination Technologies, which designs microchips used in Apple's iPad and iPhone, has doubled its forecast for chip shipments. By 2016, the company expects more than 1bn will be shipped a year, up from a previous forecast of 500m.

Texas Instruments has lowered its revenue forecast for the second fiscal quarter due to lower demand for its products from Nokia.

Chairman Ben Bernanke said he expected growth for 2011 to be between 3.1% and 3.3%, compared with the previous forecast of 3.4-3.9%. He also hinted the Fed would not pump more money into the economy after June.

TriQuint Semiconductor's first-quarter earnings met analysts' expectations, helped by strong demand in the smartphone market, but the wireless communications products supplier forecast lower-than-expected second-quarter earnings.

GDP will expand 0.8% in 2011, down sharply from the 1.7% growth previously forecast. But as reconstruction spending gains pace, the economy will expand 2.3% in 2012, faster than previous estimates for 1.3% growth, the OECD said.

Infineon will go into specifics concerning the past quarter, the outlook for the current quarter and the expectations for the fiscal year 2011 when presenting the figures for the second quarter of the fiscal year 2011 on May 3, 2011.

First Solar reported a 10% rise in fourth-quarter earnings, beating Wall Street estimates, but the company lowered the top end of its 2011 sales forecast and its shares fell 4.7% after hours.

Shares of wireless chipmaker Anadigics are down US$0.57, almost 8%, at US$5.96, after the company reported 4Q results ahead of expectations, but forecast a surprise net loss this quarter and much lower-than-expected revenue, citing "softness in China" and an inventory pile-up.

Chip gear maker Veeco Instruments expects a longer sales cycle and forecast first-quarter results below analysts' estimates.

The first full quarter on Elop's watch will include the first sizable sales from the company's N8 smartphone. The 44% drop in profit forecast by analysts stands in contrast to Apple's 78% earnings growth in the period.

ASML said it expects first-quarter net sales this year of about 1.4 billion euros (US$1.88 billion), and said the company has the potential for 2011 sales of more than five billion euros. Sales in 2010 rose to 4.51 billion euros.