Hynix Semiconductor creditors named Kwon Oh Chul as the new CEO of the world's second-largest maker of computer-memory chips. They also plan to sell 8% of Hynix in the first half of 2010 and another 5% in the second half if they fail to find a buyer.

"It is true that the sector is getting hotter and hotter. But it is premature to say the market will continue the current upbeat mood throughout this year," said Oh-Hyun Kwon, president of the company's chip division.

Leading shareholders of Hynix Semiconductor have attracted no bid for the memory chipmaker's controlling stake by the extended deadline and will likely have to unload a large chunk of their US$3.1 billion stake into the market.

Creditors of memory-chip maker Hynix Semiconductor plan to name a new chief executive to replace Kim Jong-Kap, whose three-year term ends in March 2010.

"We didn't use any of Samsung Electronics' copper-based processing technology in our memory lines. Hynix is confident we will be cleared of such allegations in court," CEO Kim Jong-kap told The Korea Times.

The world's top two DRAM chipmakers have reiterated their bullish stance toward the market for 2010. But Hynix expressed a slight concern regarding oversupply at a time when rivals are ramping up their production.

Prosecutors have arrested two executives from Applied Materials in Seoul, South Korea on charges of allegedly stealing Samsung process technology details and passing them on to Hynix.

The company, which receives licensing fees from patents of its memory chip designs, lost US$23.3 million compared with a loss of US$15.5 million in fourth-quarter 2008.

Creditors rescued Hynix after it almost collapsed in 2001 under the weight of its debts. Spurred on by the company's strong turnround and a brighter outlook for the semiconductor sector, creditors have been anxious to sell to recoup their original investment worth US$4.6 billion.

Korea Exchange Bank has confirmed that the creditors of Hynix Semiconductor failed to receive any bids for their stake in the chip maker by the deadline.

A person familiar with the situation has told Dow Jones Newswires that the stake sale process hasn't been going well with no particular company showing an interest in the Hynix stake.

MoneyToday, citing unnamed industry sources, said that Samsung was expected to set this year's capital expenditure for the semiconductor business at about 7 trillion won (US$6.1 billion). The Korean vendor is also planning a new chip production line in its domestic plant, marking the first time in years that it would add a line.

A settlement between Samsung Electronics Co. (005930.SE) and Rambus Inc. (RMBS) in their long-running legal battles could push co-defendents Micron Technology Inc. (MU) and Hynix Semiconductor Inc. (000660.SE) to do the same, instead of risking billions in potential damages.

Samsung Electronics and Rambus have reached an agreement settling all claims between them and the licensing of Rambus' patent portfolio for all Samsung semiconductor products.

"We are open to any country, not just the UAE, to invest in the company..."

"Samsung Group will invest 26.5 trillion won (US$23.61 billion) and Samsung Electronics will spend 18.4 trillion won," said the official who declined to be identified.

The world's largest manufacturer of computer memory chips and flat screen TVs has predicted an operating profit of up to US$3.44 billion for the fourth quarter of 2009 after racking up its first ever loss a year earlier. It did not give a net profit estimate.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) government is mulling plans to buy a stake in South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor, according to Dow Jones.

"The ITC affirmed the validity of our asserted patents. We are disappointed, however, with the determinations regarding our infringement methodology and patent exhaustion," said Tessera CEO. "We will have an opportunity to appeal this ruling..."

Falling DDR2 prices in the spot market seems to support why DRAM manufacturers were unable to negotiate any further price increases in the contract segment for the past two contracts. Demand for DDR3 is still strong, and Converge believes it will continue to increase as we head into 2010.

Micron Technology swung to a fiscal first-quarter profit—its first in three years—on higher sales volumes and prices as well as a large prior-year write-down.

Hynix Semiconductor expects to be profitable in 2010 after posting huge losses in the early part of this year, in an indication that an industry downturn is ending and memory-chip business is poised for a recovery.

The analyst said that recent checks lead her to believe there will be a "significantly better than expected" demand for PCs in the beginning of the year -- something she expects will help balance out supply and demand for DRAM.

Korea Exchange Bank said on December 20 that the creditors of Hynix Semiconductor will send out invitations to Korean companies Monday (Dec. 21) to seek bids for their combined 28% stake in the chip maker.

Micron Technology has announced that it will voluntarily transfer its stock exchange listing from The New York Stock Exchange to the NASDAQ Global Select Market effective Dec. 30, 2009.

Non-volatile memory supplier Numonyx could add a refresh cycle to its chalcogenide phase-change memory to allow it to work at elevated temperatures.

Elpida Memory may post its first annual operating profit in three years as growth in demand outpaces industry production, according to company CEO Yukio Sakamoto.

Hynix Semiconductor plans to invest about 2.3 trillion won (about US$2 billion) in its semiconductor business – 1.5 trillion won in DRAM and 800 billion won in NAND flash memory and logic – in 2010, a 130% jump from one trillion won this year.

Europe's top antitrust regulator agreed to end its investigation of memory chip maker Rambus on December 9, after the firm agreed to change the way it licenses its industry-standard technology.

Rambus has announced that Samsung Electronics will offer a 1Gb XDR DRAM memory device, which will broaden the availability of XDR technology for gaming, computing and consumer electronics applications.

"DRAM revenues historically fall by 20% in the first quarter, but I don't think it will fall that much in 2010...," said Hynix CEO Kim Jong-Kap on the sidelines of semiconductor equipment trade show Semicon Japan.

"The group's top decision makers have reached a broad consensus that more measures would be needed to nurture future growth engines. But that doesn't necessarily mean LG will participate in an auction next month," an LG representative said. Despite such internal views, market analysts say LG could be the "right buyer" for Hynix.

Samsung Electronics plans to invest around seven trillion won (US$6.05 billion) in its semiconductor business for 2010 - five trillion won in DRAM and two trillion won in NAND flash memory and system LSI, according to industry sources.

The Portuguese DRAM test and assembly operation subsidiary of insolvent Qimonda has been offered a financial life line and is taking on a new name, according to local reports.

"If there is no potential buyer this time, we will seek other measures to build a new structure of the company, on which all the stakeholders and interested parties can agree," according to the Korea Exchange Bank, the main creditor of Hynix.

"Samsung is aiming to raise its global DRAM share to 45% in 2010 inspired by the bullish outlook in the memory chip sector," a Samsung executive told the paper.

Korea Exchange Bank (KEB), representing creditors, is planning to send out invitations for the auction to domestic companies between Nov. 25 and Dec. 15, its officials said. The action follows Hyosung Group's recent decision to scrap its bid to purchase Hynix.

"The MOEA needs to make more of an effort to restructure the DRAM industry, with TIMC being one of the possibilities, " said Taiwan's economics minister Shih Yen-shiang. "The ministry will explain to lawmakers the necessity of establishing TIMC and review other ways of pushing the project."

The capacitors are hollow - no more hemispherical-grain polysilicon to increase the surface area. Which implies that a high-k dielectric has been used, to keep the cell capacitance up.

Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips and LCD screens, reported on Friday its best ever quarterly net profit on a resurgent memory sector and forecast a strong 2010.