Having scrapped import duties on solar systems, Pakistan could be become a highly viable emerging market for photovoltaics, due to its high insolation values and growing energy demands.

The massive gray market for cellphones is propelling sales of lower-cost flash memories like embedded multimedia card (eMMC) and serial peripheral interface (SPI) NOR, as manufacturers of the unregulated phones strive to keep production costs low, according to IHS iSuppli.

ARM chips made with an advanced, 20-nanometer manufacturing process could appear in smartphones and tablets by as soon as the end of next year, the head of ARM's processor division said Monday.

Cadence Design Systems has contributed to STMicroelectronics having taped out a 20-nanometer test chip, incorporating custom analog and digital methodologies to enable mixed-signal SoC design at this advanced process node.

Germany may call on the European Union to apply high import tariffs on Chinese solar panels that are sold at less than production costs, Environment Minister Peter Altmaier told the WirtschaftsWoche busniess magazine.

China-based energy group Hanergy is set to buy part of Q-Cells, the insolvent Germany-based solar-panel maker, in a deal that highlights the buying power of Chinese energy companies in the troubled European solar market.

Air quality in all of the 32 Chinese cities that track pollution falls short of World Health Organisation guidelines. Beijing is among the world's most polluted cities.

According to a recent UN report, the number of renewable energy jobs doubled globally between 2007 and 2011 and millions more will be employed in the sector over the next 20 years.

The last nine days of May saw a record production of solar power in Britain.

Micron may ask creditors of the financially troubled Elpida Memory to forgive more than US$3.8 billion in debt.

NXP Semiconductors has announced that its PN65 Mobile Transactions solution will power the Samsung GALAXY S3 bringing a new concept of human-centric mobile experience.

Mentor Graphics has announced TSMC will use the Calibre SmartFill solution to achieve TSMC's fill requirements for its 20nm manufacturing processes.

At next week's DAC, Globalfoundries plans to demonstrate an enhanced silicon-validated design flow for its 28nm SLP technology with gate-first HKMG. The flow provides proven and complete front-to-back support for advanced analog/mixed-signal (AMS) design using the industry's latest design automation technology.

Corning has announced that its Gorilla Glass 2, the next generation of the company's cover glass, has been designed into the new Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. This improved glass was first revealed at the Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas earlier this year.

The designs ARM produces have been licensed and used to build processors at the heart of many of today's bestselling gadgets.

Uniquify has become a TSMC Design Center Alliance (DCA) partner.

Texas Instruments (TI) announced it has shipped nearly 6.5 billion units of copper wire bonding technology in its analog, embedded processing and wireless products. This milestone underscores TI's confidence in copper as a viable replacement to gold in its semiconductor product roadmaps.

The California trial between Samsung and Apple is now headed for a scheduled start in late June, after the companies could find "no clear agreement," a Samsung official told The Korea Times. Both companies reportedly held firm in their respective beliefs, as Samsung believes Apple should pay royalties for using wireless transmission technology, while Apple believes Samsung copied the design of its iPhone and iPad.

The Intel wafer fab complex in Leixlip, Ireland, is set to receive investment to allow it to manufacture 14nm silicon and beyond, the company revealed in a presentation to analysts on May 10. The investment is expected to be more than US$1 billion.

Munich, Germany-based manufacturer Wacker Chemie has released a statement taking a firm stand against efforts to impose trade duties on China-made solar modules in the European Union.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday in choppy trading, faltering after a downgrade of Spain's credit rating sent the euro to nearly a two-year low against the dollar.

Panasonic is mulling fresh job losses on top of 17,000 recent lay-offs as the Japanese electronics conglomerate looks to engineer a profit rebound, a source said.

Olympus is also looking to slash 2,500 jobs, the Asahi Shimbun said, without naming its sources.

Japan and China said Tuesday they will start direct currency trading this week, marking the first time Beijing has let a major unit other than the dollar swap with the yuan.

"People are starting to position bankruptcy filing as a way to rebuild the company, and that's becoming more acceptable," says Mitsushige Akino, a chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management. "If more cases like JAL emerge, it will help to revitalize the Japanese market, as well as the economy."