Semiconductor designer ARM Wednesday reported a 10% fall in first quarter dollar sales as consumer demand for electronic products continued to suffer, but said there are signs of an improving trend in the semiconductor market.

Fujitsu Microelectronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) on April 30 announced that they will collaborate on leading-edge process technology production for the manufacturing of Fujitsu's products. Under an agreement, Fujitsu will expand its 40nm generation logic IC business with production at TSMC's fabs.

Industrial output in Japan rose in March for the first time in six months, according to government figures. Production rose by 1.6% in March compared with February, after months of dramatic decline.

Amkor Technology has announced net loss for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009 was US$22 million, compared to a net loss of US$623 million in the prior quarter. Gross margin for the quarter was 12%, and the company expects its gross margin climb to between 17% and 19% in the current quarter.

Nakaya Microdevices, Amkor Technology and Toshiba Tuesday announced that they have signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding expressing their intent to form a joint venture in Japan that will provide system LSI assembly and testing services.

VLSI Research reported a 28.6% decline in probe card revenues in 2008, with the economic downturn and sharp cutbacks within the memory sector having "a seriously detrimental impact" on the market.

KLA-Tencor has announced operating results for its third quarter of fiscal 2009 (ended on March 31, 2009). KLA-Tencor reported a GAAP net loss of US$83 million and a GAAP loss per share of US$0.49 on revenues of US$310 million for the third quarter of fiscal 2009.

NEC Electronics and Renesas Technology have agreed to enter into negotiations to integrate business operations. The two chipmakers plan to sign an agreement at the end of July, 2009 to form Japan's largest semiconductor maker.

Chip-making companies Renesas Technology and NEC Electronics have agreed to integrate their operations by April next year, in a move that will form an entity surpassing Toshiba as Japan's largest chip maker, according to reports Friday.

Lam Research has revealed its third quarter financial results, indicating a swing to loss as revenues plunged 72% during the three-month period.

Novellus Systems Chief Executive Richard Hill said the chip equipment market may have reached a bottom and provided second-quarter guidance above Wall Street estimates.

MEMC Electronic Materials shares jumped on Friday after the silicon wafer maker posted a first-quarter profit helped mainly by a hefty tax gain.

The idea that Russia might save Qimonda to any great effect in the global chip industry is, I am afraid, ridiculous. And that's with or without the involvement of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin in the discussions. But that does not mean an attempt will not be made.

SanDisk chief Eli Harari delivered some odd news for folks tracking the memory market: Flash memory prices and demand are actually rising.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Friday said it swung to a first-quarter net loss on lower sales and margins, and that it remains difficult to tell when the market will bottom despite signs of improving conditions. The Singapore-based chip foundry reported a net loss of US$114.2 million on revenues of US$243.9 million for the three months ended March 31, its third consecutive quarterly loss. But the figure was better than its average forecast.

Samsung Electronics Friday said global demand for memory chips will improve in the second quarter and expects global shipments of personal computers to rise by a low-single percentage from the preceding quarter.

Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.6% on Wednesday, lifted by exporters on a weaker yen. Pioneer was untraded due to a glut of buy orders after sources claimed the electronics maker is considering applying for state funds. Elpida Memory soared nearly 17% after a local paper said it may seek around 50 billion yen (US$507 million) in public money to shore up its capital.

Hynix Semiconductor Wednesday said it will sell 70 million shares via a rights offering. The Korean chipmaker's main creditor Korea Exchange Bank said earlier this month that the creditors have reached agreement to allow the chipmaker to raise around 700 billion won (US$519 million) through a rights offering.

All of Wal-Mart's solar projects will generate enough clean energy to power the equivalent of 2,600 homes and avoid 22,500 metric tons of carbon-dioxide emissions each year — tantamount to taking about 4,000 cars off the road. The company is considering other sites for solar arrays.

Equipment supplier EV Group said that strong equipment orders in the last quarter have led to plans to increase production capacity with an extra working shift, starting near the end of April. New orders have exceeded the equipment suppliers forecasts, with demand coming from 3D IC through-silicon via (TSV) and nanoimprint lithography markets.

Infineon Technologies AG has announced a collaboration with Nokia. Infineon will supply its XMM 2130 EDGE platform to Nokia, enabling the mobile device manufacturer to bring a new breed of internet capable devices to the market.

Toshiba has denied a newspaper report that it will increase capital by 500 billion yen (US$5 billion) this year to strengthen its semiconductor business.

Qimonda North America has appointed advisors for the sale of its semiconductor manufacturing assets in Sandston, Virginia, subject to bankruptcy court approval.

Elpida Memory, Japan's largest maker of computer-memory chips, climbed to the highest in six months in Tokyo trading after it said it plans to raise chip prices and a report said the company may receive public funding.

Elpida Memory, Japan's largest maker of computer-memory chips, plans to raise prices as much as 50% and break even by June as industry-wide production cuts help ease a supply glut.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has unveiled the foundry industry's first mixed-signal/radio-frequency reference design kit (MS/RF RDK) at its North American Technology Symposium in San Jose. The RDK initially targets 65nm process technology and aims to accelerate analog, mixed-signal, and RF designs and RF SoC verification and integration.