Intel has announced that Intel-Micron Flash Technologies are in mass production of their 25nm NAND flash memory, and Intel is shipping in volume to customers.

"Current strong market conditions will last for at least another three or four quarters...we are considering raising (capital investment for this year) by 20-30%," according to Hynix CFO Kim Min-chul.

An IC foundry has made it into the ranks of the Top 20 MEMS foundries for the first time, as TSMC's roughly US$10 million in MEMS foundry revenues put it into 14th place on Yole Developpement's 2009 listing.

Perhaps because of that history major suppliers have not been installing capacity, which indicates that prices will continue to increase until at least the last quarter of 2010, when capacity may again be able to meet demand, according to a Gartner analyst.

"I think it'll be a story in 2011, and it'll be pretty good penetration in 2012. But, you know, maybe I'm wrong," said Mark Durcan, president and CEO of Micron Technology.

Micron Technology sees strong demand for computer memory this year even as major players like Samsung invest billions of dollars to increase production, according to company president Mark Durcan.

European Union regulators are expected to fine nine makers of memory chips, including Samsung, Infineon and Hynix, this week on charges of illegally fixing prices. Others set to be fined are Elpida, NEC Electronics, Hitachi, Toshiba, Mitsubishi and Nanya.

Infineon is in talks with Intel about a sale of its wireless chip business, according to German business daily Financial Times Deutschland.

Samsung has revealed plans to invest nine trillion won in the memory-chip business, compared with an earlier budget of 5.5 trillion won. Spending on LCDs will rise to five trillion won from three trillion won, it said.

Market speculation on the size of the investment has grown since the South Korean firm said two weeks ago that its chip unit would sharply raise capital spending for 2010, with some media reports penciling in a record 20 trillion won (US$17.7 billion).

The bill that could raise the admissions bar locally and send Taiwan students to offshore schools has finally received approval in parliament, after legislators grabbed one another's arms and necks.

Silver Lake Sumeru, the middle market investment group of Silver Lake, has announced that it recently closed on an investment in Spansion. Spansion has successfully emerged from bankruptcy.