It took firefighters from Boise about a half an hour to put out the fire, which broke out in a building that helps support the company's development of solar panels.

Samsung Electronics has commented that DRAM prices are expected to fall in the third quarter of 2010, and drop further in the fourth.

Chip designer Rambus has reported bigger-than-expected losses for the second quarter of 2010, although revenues rose with the help of agreements signed earlier this year with Samsung Electronics.

"We'll seek opportunities including acquisitions and partnerships," executive officer Takehiro Fukuda, who oversees finance and accounting at Elpida, said in a recent interview. "We need to further expand the range of our business in areas such as mobile phone and television chips, and we plan to cut our debt-to-equity ratio to 1 from 1.3 by year-end and eventually to 0.3."

Shares of most DRAM makers have underperformed their respective benchmark indexes in Asia so far this year, as European sovereign-debt troubles surfaced and clouded views on global economic growth.

As compared with previous generations, Micron's new RLDRAM 3 memory offers a further increase in density and speed, while minimizing latency and reducing power consumption for higher performing networking applications. Micron expects to begin sampling its RLDRAM 3 device in the first half of 2011.

Micron Technology's shares slumped more than 13% on concerns about the growth rates for DRAM chips. However, some of the analysts who follow Micron seemed unfazed by the potential negativity, saying that such comments may actually end up benefiting Micron.

Prices of DRAM fell for the first time in over a year in June, as companies increased production and PC vendors toughened their stance on further price increases. Analysts now say prices will slide for the rest of the year.

Thirty-three states, including California, have reached a US$173 million settlement with six DRAM makers alleged to have fixed prices for their products between 1998 and 2002. The companies named in the lawsuit are Micron Technology and NEC Electronics America as well as Infineon Technologies, Hynix Semiconductor, Elpida Memory and Mosel Vitelic.

Hynix Semiconductor has said it would invest 456 billion won (US$373.4 million) to boost and upgrade its production capacity.

The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington has rescheduled hearings for Oct. 7. Rambus has been involved in long-standing disputes with Hynix and Micron over patent infringement as well as antitrust issues.

Creditors rescued Hynix after it almost collapsed in 2001 under the weight of its debts. However, they have since struggled to find a local strategic buyer for Hynix, having excluded foreigners from the auction because of worries about sensitive technology information leaking outside of the country.

The company will "definitely go into" China with a Taiwanese chipmaker by as early as 2012 and seek support from the China government, said Elpida's president Yukio Sakamoto in an interview. It is also accelerating plans to add a second manufacturing plant at Rexchip Electronics.

Hynix Semiconductor said on May 31 it would raise its capital expenditure by a third to 3.05 trillion won (US$2.5 billion) this year to take advantage of a strong recovery in the global technology sector.

Toshiba, Hynix, Micron and Elpida all moved up at least one position in the top 20 list, with Elpida jumping six spots.

ASML has announced that four TWINSCAN XT:1900Gi lithography systems have joined its "One Million Wafer Club" of scanners that have processed more than one million silicon wafers within 12 months, underlining the importance and acceptance of this advanced technology in mainstream chip manufacturing.

The Commission has adopted a decision settling a cartel investigation and imposing a fine totalling about 331 million euros (US$409 million) on Samsung, Hynix, Infineon, NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Elpida and Nanya.

"Current strong market conditions will last for at least another three or four quarters...we are considering raising (capital investment for this year) by 20-30%," according to Hynix CFO Kim Min-chul.

Micron Technology sees strong demand for computer memory this year even as major players like Samsung invest billions of dollars to increase production, according to company president Mark Durcan.

Samsung has revealed plans to invest nine trillion won in the memory-chip business, compared with an earlier budget of 5.5 trillion won. Spending on LCDs will rise to five trillion won from three trillion won, it said.

Hynix Semiconductor has said it sold 5-year bonds worth US$500 million abroad that could be converted into its shares at 34,580 won apiece.

Hynix Semiconductor's board has approved the issuance of 557.9 billion won in five-year convertible bonds to secure operating funds and expand production capacity.

Micron officials did not return phone calls to the Statesman, but Boise fire spokeswoman Lynn Hightower said regular operations at the Micron campus were not affected.

Rambus has net profits of US$150.9 million for the first quarter, compared with losses of US$17.4 million in the same quarter last year. Revenues for the quarter soared 492% to US$161.9 million, thanks to a licensing agreement with Samsung.

For some time, there has been shortages of DRAMs, causing prices to increase for both DDR2 and DDR3. Now, PC OEMs have reached the boiling point amid the price hikes.

A company that bought the former Qimonda plant for a bargain price has announced plans to retrofit the 1.36 million-square-foot facility to host data centers.

The IC industry is recovering, but there are also signs of growing chip inventories in the channels. VLSI Research said IC inventories reached US$24.38 billion worldwide in February, a 46% increase from the same month in 2009.

Hynix Semiconductor plans to reduce its debt by one trillion won (US$870m) in 2010 due to forecasts for record sales and supply shortages in the global semiconductor industry.

Elpida CTO said the company is looking to use its 3D TSV technology to expand beyond its DRAM business and supply system solutions developed by stacking memory with RF, sensor or logic devices that would come from partner companies.

Hynix Semiconductor has appointed Oh Chul Kwon as the new CEO of the company.

Hynix Semiconductor is targeting record revenues in 2010, driven by tight memory chip supply conditions, according to OC Kwon, who took over as Hynix's chief executive on Monday.

IDC analysts have said the global chip industry will grow in 2010 but offered one of the least optimistic industry revenue forecasts so far this year, saying the global recession remains a problem.

Ramifications of slowed manufacturing capacity output and a lack of capital expenditure over the past 24 months, combined with increased demand driven by a hot PC market, has resulted in a very positive environment for DRAM pricing.

Elpida Memory is expected to return to the black with an operating profit of almost 20 billion yen (US$222 million) for the year ending this month, buoyed by a recovery in DRAM chip prices, according to the Nikkei business daily.

Hynix Semiconductor creditors sold a 923.2 billion won (US$814 million) stake in the world's second-largest maker of computer-memory chips after three failed attempts.

Hynix Semiconductor has said it would invest 465 billion won (US$410 million) to expand and upgrade its production capacity and research and development.

The deal will end years of litigation between companies - like Micron Technology, Hynix Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies - and indirect purchasers of DRAM memory chips, which includes California and several other states.

Applied Materials CFO George Davis recently remarked there is reason to think the second half will see orders from Tier 2 DRAM players, and from some additional segments of the market, in particular NAND flash.