Elpida Memory is still considering applying for a public funds injection, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

Flat-screen maker LG Display said on Tuesday it would invest 50 billion won (US$40 million) in a pilot line and testing facility for solar power cells, aiming for commercial production in 2012.

Synopsys has announced TSMC selected its Galaxy Implementation Platform for their new integrated sign-off Flow. The new flow is now available for 65nm designs with planned extensions into other process technology nodes.

MagnaChip Semiconductor has announced that its parent companies filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code, but its South Korean operations are not part of the bankruptcy filing.

Beijing is expected to unveil subsidized prices for solar power production as soon as the second half of the year, the South China Morning Post reported on Monday, citing an industry official.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that politicians needed to consider whether to aid struggling chipmaker Qimonda and its peers in Germany.

Chartered CFO George Thomas said wafer shipments are expected to increase about 60% from the fiscal first quarter, and the loss is expected to be about US$10 million smaller than previously forecast. The chip foundry now expects a loss of 57-67 cents per American Depositary Share on revenues of US$338-348 million.

Toshiba has said it will shoulder US$307 million in restructuring costs from shutting down its old system chip and discrete chip lines as it seeks to unload losses.

Yahoo has named Altera's CFO as its finance chief, the latest move by the Internet company to rebuild itself in the image of its new chief executive. Analyst said the hiring of Morse suggested that Bartz wanted someone to focus on "no-frills financial management."

Hynix Semiconductor plans to raise its contract price for DRAMs by an additional 10% later this month on signs of increased demand, a high-ranking industry source said Friday.

Hoku Scientific said it could be forced to delay completing construction of a polysilicon plant in Idaho if the company is unable to raise capital. Because of its financial woes, the Hawaii-based fuel cell-maker said it may not be able to continue ''as a going concern'' for the next 12 months.

The construction project is expected to take approximately two years to complete and an additional 12 to 18 months to ramp to full operating mode, with volume production anticipated in roughly 2012.

Call them philanthropic or just call them smart investors, the bottom line is that Google wants to provide an alternate solution to the greenhouse gases of laden coal power generation in the US.

A senior Chinese official has said China wants to produce one-fifth of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020, a significant increase on the current target.

Aviza Technology announced that is has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy as it goes ahead with efforts to sell certain of its assets to Sumitomo Precision Products.

Once completed, Globalfoundries' Fab 2 project is expected to create more than 6,400 direct and indirect jobs in the region.

Compound Semiconductor Technologies (CST) Global, the Scottish foundry company, is to upgrade its manufacturing equipment thanks to new financing.

Germany-based concentrated photovoltaics (CPV) pioneer Concentrix Solar says that its plant in southern Spain is now consistently delivering the record power efficiency first achieved a year ago.

"We are in discussions with some local and foreign companies for possible cooperation. There might be some different business styles," ProMOS Vice-President Ben Tseng told Reuters.

Spansion and Samsung Electronics are set to resume their legal dispute after a bankruptcy judge rejected a $70 million patent settlement between the two companies.

Samsung may ask its key PC-related clients to pay more. Hynix was looking for a chance to raise its contract-based chip prices for the second straight month.