Low levels of fab spending this year could lead to significant shortages in chip capacity, according SEMI. Fab spending should rise over 60% next year, according to SEMI. However it's coming from the very low base of 2009. US$4.6bn was spent on fab construction last year, but only US$1.6bn will be spent this year.

Fresco Solar says it will build solar photovoltaic ground arrays of 1MW or more anywhere in the United States for US$2.95 per watt or US$2.95 million per megawatt system. The package includes delivery, installation, and testing of the racking, panels, and inverters as well as associated foundations and wiring. The price does not include sales and use taxes, local permits and fees, and any land development costs.

Last year, T. Boone Pickens signed a deal for 667 wind turbines for an enormous 4,000-megawatt wind farm to be built in the Texas Panhandle. Now that plan is in shambles. Bad credit markets and a lack of transmission lines for the wind turbines have led him to scrap the panhandle project, at least for now, he confirmed today. But he still has to do something with all of those turbines he's ordered. "I'm committed to 667 wind turbines and I am going to find projects for them," he said in a statement.

Nokia's strategic relationship with Intel, announced last month, may be very forward-looking and not about to worry any incumbent wireless chipset suppliers, but it is nonetheless threatening to Europe's local hero, ARM Holdings.

Dubbed single mode level cell (SMLC) technology, Fusion-io says products using the enterprise class flash offer a cost-effective MLC-based solid-state solution with the endurance and performance of SLC at a much lower cost-per-gigabyte.

OKI Data is increasing LED production to meet target sales by 2011. ODI, the OKI Data subsidiary that develops and manufactures print heads for LED printers, currently operates in Hachioji. These operations will be transferred to the facility now acquired from Renesas, and the facility is scheduled to go on-line in April 2010.

Photronics, a worldwide leader in supplying innovative imaging technology solutions for the global electronics industry, has announced that it is closing its integrated circuit photomask manufacturing facility in Shanghai, China. The closure is consistent with Photronics strategy to reduce costs and lower its operational breakeven point, it said.

The Milan trade fair has said it is commissioning the world's biggest rooftop photovoltaic power installation covering some 270,000 square meters.

The semiconductor memory industry is about to experience major technological changes as three-dimensional multi-gate structures push transistors and memory architectures forward, according to a one-day memory workshop held last month in Grenoble, France, by leading researchers from around the world.

GlobalFoundries will hold its official groundbreaking for Fab 2 at the Luther Forest Technology Campus in Malta on July 24.

Struggling German chip group Infineon Technologies is selling its wireline communications operation to an affiliate of US private equity firm Golden Gate Capital for 250 million euro (about US$350 million).

The company generated more than a million pounds of hazardous waste last year, according to a report filed with the Massachusettes Department of Environmental Protection, even though its new US$450 million factory in Devens wasn't operating at full capacity.

After not finding an investor eager to acquire the whole company, Qimonda has appointed several companies to sell 300mm production equipment from the firm's manufacturing facilities in Germany and the US.

There is considerable debate about second-half 2009. Some are bulls. Some are bears. Some are in both camps.

Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar power--which marries traditional solar photovoltaic technology to large-scale concentrated solar power plants--could ramp up utility-scale solar production especially in niche markets.

Semiconductor market statistician Mike Cowan now predicts 2009 global semiconductor sales will be US$196.2 billion, up by 1.9% from the previous month's forecast estimate of US$192.5 billion.

With few tools in development for the EUV mask infrastructure, Sematech has said it will convene a meeting during SEMICON West to garner financial support from companies and government sources. The goal is to entice commercial suppliers to develop EUV mask blank inspection, mask defect review, and mask pattern inspection tools.

Over the past several years, IDMs have seen the price of silicon fabrication fall, while the cost of packaging, assembly and test has steadily been on the rise.

Solar-power company LDK Solar boosted its wafer shipment forecast for the second quarter on stronger-than-expected demand but issued a revenue view below Wall Street estimates.

Sales of semiconductors in Europe in May again underperformed other regions, according to an analysis of the figures by the Semiconductor Industry Association provided by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization.

NEC Electronics, which has inked an integration contract with fellow chip maker Renesas Technology, is eyeing either Toshiba or Panasonic as its partner in developing an advanced semiconductor system, President Junshi Yamaguchi said.

Semiconductor player RF Micro Devices announced it is cooperating with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to develop a commercially viable and high volume-capable compound semiconductor-based process for high-performance photovoltaic (PV) cells.

"...key customers who are increasing 40nm tape-outs have already started to evaluate other foundries (UMC) in case yields do not improve soon," said Mehdi Hosseini, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, in a report.

Raj Seth, an analyst with Cowen and Co. LLC, has indicated that Teradyne is readying a tester for "DDR3" applications. That implies that the automatic test equipment giant is entering the DRAM test market, thereby going toe-to-toe with Japan's Advantest.

Standard Microsystems Corporation (SMSC) has announced plans to outsource some of its production test operations to Asian suppliers. The transfer of the production test operations is expected to improve the company's gross margin once completed at the end of its fiscal year.

Rather than a costly cap-and-trade system, the US should invest in more environmentally sound renewable projects.

Elpida Memory, which operates one of the world's largest DRAM memory fabs in Hiroshima (Japan), will undergo a major internal transformation as the company battles a continued over capacity in the memory markets and seeks Japanese Government funds to continue operations.

Japanese chipmaker Elpida was thrown a 160-billion-yen (US$1.7 billion) financial lifeline on June 30, including public funds, to help it survive the economic downturn, officials said.