Struggling German chip maker Infineon is considering a partnership in Europe or Asia even though it can survive alone, its chairman told a newspaper, but analysts said chances for an alliance were slim.

Recent production adjustments for NAND flash memory won't bring the desired effect of stabilizing and increasing prices, a research report published by Baird suggests. Manufacturers will have to brace for further production cuts and price declines in the second quarter, while consumers should benefit from this scenario through cheaper flash memory devices, especially in SSDs.

Japanese electronics maker Sharp Corp. said Friday it will cut 1,500 contract workers in Japan by the end of March, and is headed for a billion dollar annual loss, its first in nearly 60 years.

Toshiba is planning to allow a total of about 16,700 workers to take on second jobs while they are on temporary leave due to production cuts in its struggling semiconductor and LCD divisions, company officials said Thursday.

Tessera reported 4Q sales of $69.1 million, up 30% year over year, in line with estimates, and profit of 41 cents per share, excluding some costs, which was ahead of the average estimate of 36 cents. The company designs devices that attach chips to PCBs and gets royalty payments for the use of those designs by others.

German chipmaker Infineon Technologies AG reported Friday a ？404 million ($513 million) net loss for its fiscal first quarter as the global economic slowdown crimped demand and caused sales to fall.

Chip maker ON Semiconductor said Wednesday it expects first-quarter revenue in the range of US$340 million to $380 million, which is below Wall Street's expectations.

ALLVIA, the first through-silicon via (TSV) foundry, has secured US$5 million from private investors in its next round of funding to expand manufacturing facilities and to build more capacity. This brings the total funding invested in the company to US$25 million.

Michael Jaffe, the insolvency lawyer for Qimonda AG, will fly to Asia by the end of this week to meet potential investors for the German memory-chip maker.

The US-Taiwan Business Council, in its "Semiconductor Quarterly Report--Annual Review, 2008," contends that Taiwan is facing a critical strategic crossroads that will impact the future of its semiconductor sector, and particularly the DRAM industry, for years to come.

STMicroelectronics and Ericsson has announced the closing of their agreement merging Ericsson Mobile Platforms and ST-NXP Wireless into a 50/50 joint venture. The deal was completed on the terms originally announced on August 20, 2008. Ericsson contributed US$1.1 billion net to the joint venture, out of which US$0.7 billion was paid to ST.

Unlike past US recessions, chipmakers can't count on boosting overseas sales this time because the economic slowdown has so quickly gone global. Slowing exports is a challenge for the chipmakers, which do most sales overseas. Three of the largest US chipmakers are taking different tacks to cut manufacturing costs in the face of a steep global recession.

Samsung Electronics on Wednesday said it plans to start selling by the end of 2009 a DRAM chip built with its new 40-nanometer technology, which is expected to use significantly less power than the current generation of memory chips used in PCs.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has launched an initiative to boost the development of solar energy technology, in a bid to turn it into a major energy source in China by 2050. The plan will be carried out in three phases, including "utilization in selective areas" by 2015, "utilization as an alternative energy" by 2025 and "large-scale utilization" by 2035, respectively.

The Japanese chip maker Elpida Memory said Wednesday that it may seek government funds under a new program intended to support nonfinancial firms hit by the economic crisis.

Qimonda will shut its only U.S. plant with the loss of around 1,500 jobs, the insolvent German memory chip maker said on Tuesday, adding it faced liquidation if it cannot find investors with deep pockets.

European Union Industry Commissioner Guenter Verheugen sees no chance to save Germany's insolvent chip maker Qimonda with the tools available to the EU, he said in a newspaper interview on Tuesday. 'Nobody can save a company whose owner does not want to save it.'

Rambus's case against Micron may be headed for dismissal if comments by federal judge Ronald Whyte are any indication. According to Whyte, a Delaware court's decision earlier this January to throw out Rambus' claims based on spoliation leave him no room for discretion.

Renesas Technology has announced a variety of structural reforms that will be undertaken to reinforce its business structure as part of the company's key strategy in achieving growth from FY2009 onward.

Applied Materials lowered its earnings forecast Monday, saying it expects sales at the low end of its projected range for the first quarter as the chip-tools maker struggles through what it described as "unprecedented business conditions."

Shares in Japan's Hitachi slid 17% to their lowest in 29 years after it shocked investors with a record $7.8 billion annual loss warning and offered a cost-cutting plan that failed to instill confidence in a quick recovery.

Micron Technology and Mosaid Technologies said Monday that they have settled all pending litigation between them.

Spansion's president and chief executive, Bertrand Cambou, has resigned as the chip company, struggling with declining revenue, looks for a suitor.

SanDisk said Monday that hefty charges to write down the value of assets and inventory amid industrywide price reductions forced the world's largest supplier of flash memory cards to post a larger-than-expected fourth-quarter loss.

Qimonda has four weeks to find an investor to save the core of its insolvent memory chip business before having to close production and dismiss 12,000 workers, say people close to the company. Rival chipmakers have shown the "first signs of interest" in Qimonda, since it filed for insolvency last week.

The collapse of German chip-maker Qimonda into insolvency sparked worries over its parent company Infineon. Qimonda has more than 12,000 workers worldwide, with some 3,500 in Saxony, 1,500 in Munich and several thousand in Portugal. Its New York-listed shares have fallen 95.0% over the past year, while Infineon's Frankfurt shares have fallen 88.2%.

Mosaid Technologies says it hasn't been affected by the pending insolvency filing of German customer Qimonda AG, but the assurance didn't prevent a drop in MSD stock.

Battered Asian memory chip makers will get some respite from oversupply in the long term after German chipmaker Qimonda filed for insolvency but the industry's recovery depends on a pick-up in demand.