US-based private-equity firm Silver Lake Partners and US-based chipmaker Broadcom apparently tendered a roughly JPY2 trillion (US$17.9 billion) bid. That is on the high end of estimates of the memory business' value.

Fingerprint Cards, the Swedish maker of biometric ID sensors, said revenue is set to fall more than 50% in the first quarter as device manufacturers cut back on orders amid a stubborn inventory backlog.

This powerful platform allows the Galaxy S8 to support Gigabit LTE, for fiber-optic Internet speeds on the go, and more consistent mobile data performance in more places.

Toshiba shareholders agreed to split off its prized NAND flash memory unit on Thursday, paving the way for a sale to raise at least $9 billion to cover US nuclear unit charges that threaten the conglomerate's future.

Toshiba's plan to divest its memory chip business has Japanese corporate leaders worried that critical information technology could leak to foreign companies - particularly those in China.

Intel says that when its long-delayed 10-nanometer Cannon Lake chips finally arrive, they'll be a "full generation ahead" of rivals Samsung and TMSC, thanks to "hyper scaling" that squeezes in twice as many transistors.

The supply of Samsung Electronics' upcoming flagship smartphone, presumably the Galaxy S8, may fail to meet demand due to the sluggish production of Qualcomm chipsets, industry sources said Tuesday.

The US firm has struggled with hefty losses that have thrown its Japanese parent into a crisis, putting the conglomerate's future at risk.

Intel is warning its channel partners that demand for SSDs is expected to outstrip supply for all of 2017, forcing the company to prioritize its production for data center SSDs over lower-cost consumer SSDs.

Qualcomm prevented Samsung Electronics, its biggest client for Snapdragon chip-sets, from selling its own Exynos counterpart to third-parties, South Korea's Fair Trade Commission claimed.

Traditional semiconductor scaling is expected to reach an end by about 2024, according to a white paper from engineers working on a new version of the semiconductor roadmap. The good news is a wide variety of new kinds of devices, chip stacks and systems innovations promise to continue benefits in computing performance, power and cost.

The government is considering urging struggling Toshiba not to sell its semiconductor business to a Chinese or Taiwanese company, sources said March 22.

Micron Technology gained more than 7% in late trading Thursday after the chipmaker reported better earnings than expected amid reported price hikes for its memory chips.

Even if China doesn't build all of these fabs, there are still some worrisome signs. For example, a large percentage of the projected capacity from China's foundry vendors is slated for 28nm processes and above. So over time, some see a potential capacity glut, if not a price war, looming for these technologies.

A joint venture led by Qualcomm and the Brazilian government will see the launch of a semiconductors factory producing high-complexity equipment. The consortium, which also includes semiconductor manufacturing firm ASE Group, is predicted to make a total investment of $200m in the initiative.

A big concern is a potential over-supply situation in display glass, as China slams on the gas for OLED capacity.

Samsung appears to be about a quarter ahead of TSMC with the ramp of 10nm process technology, according to a veteran chip analyst.

Samsung Electronics said Tuesday its chip factory under construction in southern Seoul is expected to start production in the first half of 2017 as scheduled. The new line is expected to focus on the production of 3-D Vertical NAND (V-NAND) flash memory.

Apple's iPhone 8 smartphone will include a 3D-sensing module to enable augmented-reality applications, Rosenblatt Securities recently said. Rosenblatt Securities named Austria's AMS AG as a likely supplier of 3D sensors to Apple.

Seagate is closing a design center in South Korea, according to its 8-K homework submitted to US financial watchdog, the SEC.

The Japanese government said it was not considering steps to support embattled Toshiba and will share information with Washington on developments involving the firm and its US nuclear unit Westinghouse.

TSMC reports 76% yields on 256Mbit SRAM modules manufactured on 7nm.

The United States International Trade Commission (USITC) announced that it will conduct an investigation on certain graphics systems and computing products imported into the country as they allegedly infringe patents owned by Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and ATI Technologies. The companies filed a complaint with the USITC and the federal agency has identified a number of respondents in the investigation, including LG Electronics, VIZIO, MediaTek, and Sigma Designs.

The technology sector in China is still not sophisticated enough to compete with the US in the global chip market, the chairman of China's top contract chipmaker said on Tuesday.

Intel has announced the first Optane-branded product using its new 3D XPoint memory: the catchily named Intel Optane SSD DC P4800X.

Samsung Electronics will invest about KRW10 trillion (US$8.7 billion) in Hwaseong Campus in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea to build a new line to produce memory DRAMs.

Qualcomm no longer refers to Snapdragons as processors, but rather as a platform. It says it is changing the terminology because "Snapdragon is more than a single component, a piece of silicon, or what many would misinterpret as the CPU."

Trying to cover the waterfront, TSMC disclosed plans for new high-, mid- and low-end processes at an annual event here. They included an enhanced 7nm FinFET node using extreme ultraviolet lithography, a 12nm upgrade of its 16nm process and a 22nm planar technology - its answer to fully depleted silicon-on-insulator (FD-SOI).

Executives at Chinese tech companies say that China's acquisitive forays into foreign chip sectors are now meeting resistance due to increasing wariness of overseas authorities and companies.

Japan's crisis-racked Toshiba has offered shares in its memory chip unit to creditors as collateral to secure debt refinancing, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.

Samsung is going to make supplemental investments into its 10nm production lines in March 2017 and construct new 7nm semiconductor facilities in 2018. Its strategy is to secure ultra-fine processing technologies faster than its competitors.

The Japanese government, fretting over the future of Toshiba's flagship memory chips unit, is prepared to block a sale to bidders it deems a risk to national security, sources said, a stance that gives US suitors a major advantage.

Shares in Toshiba Tec rose more than 6% in early Monday trading after a report that Toshiba, the parent, is considering selling shares in the company.

As major player Toshiba's flash memory business is up for sale, global chipmakers are weighing their chances of competing against Samsung, which has a runaway lead in 3D NAND flash technology.

Intel is extending its technology roadmap as cost and complexity increase with advanced nodes. Steve Mullane, a BlueFin Research Partners analyst, said that Intel's 10nm process could be delayed two to three months.

Microsoft is committing to use chips based on ARM Holdings technology in the machines that run its cloud services, potentially imperiling Intel's longtime dominance in the profitable market for data-center processors.

Taiwan's Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics maker, is not a favored bidder for Toshiba's memory chip business due to its close ties with China, sources with direct knowledge of the deal said.