Seeking to claim a generous share of the e-reader chip market, Texas Instruments will try to entice prospective e-reader OEMs with a chip set and software that the company claims will reduce the size and increase the battery life of e-book mobile devices.

For years, TSMC has primarily used ASML as its lithography vendor. But in a surprise move, TSMC has procured a new 193nm immersion lithography scanner from Nikon.

A recent research by SEMI indicates China is committed to narrow the gap between its IC production and consumption. "In addition to investments in the macro economy, the Chinese government also remains the biggest investor in the semiconductor industry in China..."

Tessera Technologies, which licenses miniaturization technology for electronic devices, has said its fourth-quarter revenues were going to fall below its previous guidance due to lower royalties.

Globalfoundries will initially provide Qualcomm with access to 45nm LP and 28nm LP technologies with an intended collaboration on future advanced process nodes.

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.

Citing the fab tool recovery, Barclays Capital has raised its immersion lithography unit shipment estimate from 95 units to 105 units for 2010.

MO-300 defines the dimensions, layout and connector position for very small form factor (50.8x29.85mm) SSDs with the new mini-SATA interface connector. Supporting 1.5Gb/s and 3.0Gb/s data transfer rates, the mSATA connector is designed especially for netbooks and other portable electronics devices.

Flash memory vendor Spansion Inc. Thursday (Dec. 31) reported its first quarterly profit since going public—despite declining sales—and said it plans to emerge from bankruptcy early in 2010.

Copper on the London Metal Exchange traded above US$7,300 a tonne on Wednesday (Dec. 30, 2009) - its highest level since September 2008.

Semiconductor makers must take the lead in evolving the tools and business processes that allow the electronics industry to benefit from the efficiency improvements and risk reduction associated with truly collaborative supply chain management.

"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..."

South Korea's antitrust agency on Dec. 30, 2009 said it has found no evidence to back allegations that makers of flash memory chips were engaged in international price fixing, after investigating the issue for nearly three years.

The lawsuit, initiated by Infineon in November 2008, focus on 14 patents related to super-junction power transistors along with trench power MOSFETs and IGBT power transistors.

Lee Kun-hee is to be pardoned so he can return to the International Olympics Committee and help South Korea's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. The former chairman of Samsung was convicted of embezzlement and tax evasion.

Stock market insiders say Samsung Electronics will easily achieve an operating profit of more than two trillion won (US$1.71 billion) and Hynix of more than 600 billion won for the quarter.

Hynix Semiconductor has revised upward its capex budget for 2010 to 2.3 trillion won (US$1.95 billion), according to its company filing with the Korea Exchange. In October, it set a goal of more than 1.5 trillion won.

3D integration investments continue unabated despite the economic downturn, according to analysts from Yole Developpement and TechSearch International.

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.

In the US, we've seen chipmakers shut down their fabs one-by-one over the years. How can we reverse that trend? One possible solution: Why not tell the Asian silicon foundries (TSMC, UMC, SMIC, etc.) that they must build fabs in the US?

Infineon Technologies has said revenues will grow by a better-than-expected "high single digit" in the quarter ending December 31, 2009 on improved sales in the automotive and industrial units.

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.

Micron said that it will be ''shortly'' sampling a 2x-nm NAND device. It did not specify the exact node, but some expect the company will disclose more details in early 2010.

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.