Rio Tinto will put its controversial western Serbia lithium project on hold, a news agency has reported, quoting the CEO of Rio's Serbian arm. The mining group wants to develop the mine near Loznica in the western Jadar river valley to extract lithium, used in electric car batteries, and borates, used in solar panels and wind turbines. Demonstrators block a highway on Saturday to protest against Rio Tinto's plan to mine lithium in Serbia.

The lightest of metals may be causing the largest of impacts. Lithium, which powers our phones, laptops, and electric cars, is essential to our battery-driven world. The demand for lithium has rapidly increased, as the global market's annual consumption has risen by 8.9 percent annually.

The Entertainment Software Association is shifting the Electronic Entertainment Expo to an online-only event out of concerns around the pandemic.

Japan's Sony Group plans to launch a company this spring to examine entering the electric vehicle market, looking to harness its strengths in entertainment and sensors to play a bigger role in next-generation mobility.

It follows a similar lockdown in Xi'an, where 13 million have been confined to their homes since 23 December.

Today as part of CES 2022, Intel demonstrated advancements and momentum with Mobileye, progress toward discrete graphics leadership and the launch of the newest members of the 12th Gen Intel Core family. With these milestones, Intel furthers its commitment to enable the industry and its customers and partners to harness the technology superpowers - ubiquitous computing, cloud-to-edge infrastructure, pervasive connectivity and artificial intelligence - at the heart of the digital transformation.

Delivery times for chips rose in December, signaling persistent component shortages that have slammed growth for months in industries that span the economy.

GM said its sales, which fell 13%, were hurt by semiconductor shortages affecting the car industry. Japan's Toyota claimed the top spot, selling more than 2.3 million vehicles last year, up 10%.

ASML Berlin manufactures components for ASML's lithography systems, including wafer tables and clamps, reticle chucks and mirror blocks.

Debt-laden Chinese chip conglomerate Tsinghua Unigroup on Wednesday said that a draft proposal to restructure the company had been approved by creditors.

South Korea's factory production jumped the most since mid-2020 last month, suggesting supply disruptions that hurt manufacturing in key industries were easing before an omicron-triggered surge in global infections.

The semiconductor industry's struggle to keep up with incoming orders looks set to continue as supply bottlenecks may last until the end of 2022, a member of German chipmaker Infineon's management board told the Handelsblatt newspaper on Wednesday.

Apple said it had placed the southern Indian factory of iPhone assembler Foxconn on probation after both companies found that some worker dormitories and dining rooms did not meet required standards.

China's ride-hailing firm Didi Global on Wednesday reported a 1.7% decline in third-quarter revenue, as its domestic business took a hit from a regulatory crackdown.

The Chinese city of Xian has reported an increase in daily Covid-19 infections and local companies have curtailed activity as the country's latest hotspot entered its third day of lockdown.

Intel and Italy are intensifying talks over investments expected to be worth around 8 billion euros ($9 billion) to build an advanced semiconductor packaging plant, two sources close to the matter told Reuters.

Chip firm Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)will acquire about $2.1 billion of silicon wafers from GlobalFoundries from 2022 through 2025 in an amended agreement, according to a regulatory filing on Thursday.

Luxshare Precision Industry is building a massive manufacturing complex in eastern China as it aims to break the decadelong hold that Taiwanese rivals Foxconn and Pegatron have on iPhone assembly.

NDK has to suspend production at its two plants for quartz crystal and crystal blank components in Malaysia due to damages caused by floods locally.

South Korea's SK Hynix said on Wednesday it has received merger clearances from the Chinese antitrust authority for its acquisition of Intel's NAND memory chip business, clearing the way for the world's second-largest memory chip maker to completion of securing regulatory approvals from all eight countries.

Biden administration officials met last week to consider tightening rules that restrict the sale of equipment to Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC). The meeting ended without an immediate resolution, and that left hawks in Washington dissatisfied.

MediaTek led the smartphone SoC market with a 40% share in the third quarter of 2021, driven by a competitive 5G SoC and high demand for the 4G SoC, according to Counterpoint Research.

Magnachip Semiconductor announced that the board of directors has authorized the company to repurchase up to US$75 million of the company's common stock.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T)has halted production at two factories in Japan due to a supply shortage, a spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday.

SK Hynix System IC, a subsidiary of SK Hynix, will close down its M8 plant in Cheongju, Korea in February 2022 and relocate all its equipment to its plant in Wuxi, China by May.

Electric vehicle startup Canoo on Wednesday said it was accelerating its production plans in the United States while ending its deal for VDL Nedcar in Netherlands to serve as its contract manufacturer in Europe.

The Biden administration is considering imposing tougher sanctions on China's largest chipmaker, according to people familiar with the situation, building on an effort to limit the country's access to advanced technology.

Oppo, one of three leading Chinese smartphone brands filling the void left by Huawei's retreat, claimed a smartphone mobile photography first with a self-designed chip that delivers sharper and more faithful images.

Chinese private equity firm Wise Road Capital and US chipmaker Magnachip Semiconductor have terminated their $1.4 billion merger agreement struck in March, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

American chip manufacturer Intel will invest 30 billion ringgit ($7.10 billion) in a new, state-of-the-art facility, Malaysian authorities said on Monday.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo discussed chip supply chains during a call with her opposite number in Taiwan and the two will cooperate on technology trade and investment through a newly established mechanism, her office said.

The US should invest more in American chipmakers rather than their Asian rivals such as TSMC and Samsung, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said Wednesday, adding that domestic companies would give the country more control of intellectual property.

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday sued to block Nvidia's $40 billion acquisition of a fellow chip company, Arm, halting what would be the biggest semiconductor industry deal in history, as federal regulators push to rein in corporate consolidation.

Japan is allocating about JPY600 billion (US$5.2 billion) of its fiscal 2021 supplementary budget to support advanced semiconductor manufacturers, Nikkei has learned.

The world is in a "race against time" with the Omicron coronavirus variant, said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Sunday, warning during a visit to Latvia that scientists and manufacturers will need weeks to fully understand the new variant.

The US has placed a dozen Chinese groups involved in quantum computing and other advanced technologies on an export blacklist, saying they pose a risk of gaining access to critical American technologies for the People's Liberation Army.

Xiaomi Corp. recorded its slowest pace of quarterly sales growth since early 2020 after supply chain mayhem choked off the flow of vital components and rivals like Apple Inc. eroded its market share.

The investment made by the South Korean group should help REC Silicon restart polysilicon production at its US factory in Moses Lake in 2023.

A consortium led by Alibaba Group has emerged as the frontrunner to take over Tsinghua Unigroup, a deal that could fetch more than CNY50 billion (US$7.8 billion) to help keep China's indebted chip champion afloat.

Plans by Korea's SK Hynix to overhaul a huge facility in China so it can make memory chips more efficiently are in jeopardy, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, because US officials do not want advanced equipment used in the process to enter into China.