Hynix Semiconductor has set around KRW4 trillion (US$3.5 billion) for its 2012 capital expenditure, up 18% from the KRW3.4 trillion set for this year, an online news provider Edaily reported Thursday, citing industry sources.

Applied Materials has announced its new Applied Producer Optiva CVD system that enables the manufacture of backside-illuminated (BSI) image sensors used in the most advanced smartphones, tablet PCs and high-end cameras.

ASM International (ASMI) has announced the successful demonstration of a new 14nm high-k gate dielectric process that achieved less than six angstroms equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) at a customer's 14nm R&D line, an improvement of about 40% from the current advanced nodes.

Struggling solar manufacturers will likely be driven into mergers with rivals to survive a sector squeeze, a trend that could draw major Asian conglomerates deeper into the renewable energy sector.

Seoul Semiconductor Co., Ltd., the Korea-based LED manufacturer, has announced that is has settled its LED patent dispute with Royal Philips Electronics.

Targray Technology International was selected by Giga Solar Materials as the global distributor for its back surface aluminum paste.

Freescale Semiconductor has filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission (ITC) accusing MediaTek, Zoran and others of patent infringement, the ITC has said by way of an online posting of pending complaints.

Under a new agreement announced today, OSM Solarform Corp. will manufacture around 20 megawatts worth of LDK Solar's photovoltaic modules at its Welland-based production line in Ontario.

Google is working out any bugs in the latest update to the Android mobile operating system before releasing it broadly, and that's good news for Samsung Nexus S users.

Honda Motor said its production facility in Taiwan will be suspended starting Dec. 15, as the flooding in Thailand has stopped supply of some key components.

China's second- and third-largest contract chipmakers Shanghai Hua Hong NEC and Grace Semiconductor have agreed to merge in a sector in need of a consolidation and technology upgrades, sources said on Thursday.

The US unemployment rate dropped sharply to 8.6% in November, its lowest level in two-and-a-half years, from 9% the month before, official figures show.

Competition and global price cuts on components make it a great time for Australian households to go solar - particularly with electricity prices predicted to jump a national average of 17%.

Japanese companies, Thailand's biggest foreign investors, may spend more to build factories in neighbors including Indonesia and Vietnam after the worst flooding in 70 years disrupted global production.

Apple's iPad is the bane of computer-memory makers, worsening the industry's losses as consumers choose the hand-held device that uses about 75% fewer of the chips than a typical laptop.

As projected, the largest LCD TVs were indeed cheaper and more plentiful and increased sales in third-quarter 2011, but it was the 32-inch screen size segment that continued to wildly outpace all other segments quarter to quarter.

Growing indignation on the part of leading Chinese PV manufacturers in relation to the ongoing trade dispute has spurred senior executives of 14 leading producers to gather and set out a coordinated plan of defence.

The challenging market conditions faced by all PV manufacturers in 2011 have led to many claiming poor visibility into business expectations next year. In recent third quarter conference calls many tier 1 suppliers refrained from giving any 2012 insight, with guidance provided near or during fourth quarter financial results early next year.

Thai Solar Energy Co., Southeast Asia's only solar-thermal energy producer, plans to spend more than 14 billion baht ($447 million) over the next five years to develop projects with a total capacity of 135 megawatts.

Didier Lamouche replaces Gilles Delfassy after the transformation of the company's portfolio roadmap from legacy feature phone products to smartphone and tablet platforms.

SpringSoft has announced immediate availability of the Laker Blitz chip-level layout editor, a new software product targeting chip finishing applications and the latest addition to its popular family of Laker custom IC design and layout automation solutions.