LED chip, lamp and lighting fixture maker Cree Inc of Durham, NC, USA has launched what it claims is the first system-level LED downlight for the international 80-100mm MR16 market. A direct replacement for the 50W MR16-based fixture, the CR100 downlight surpasses its counterpart in brightness and efficacy.

ARM sounded a note of caution about electronic goods sales this Christmas, even as it announced a better-than-expected second quarter in which its technology, already dominant in smartphones and tablets, was licensed for more and more uses.

Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/24c99176-b81a-11e0-8d23-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1TmqNu1c7 CSR has warned of "increasing economic uncertainty and weakness in some areas of the handset market" as it reported a slide in revenues for the first half of 2011.

Solar investors should brace themselves for some downright dreadful second-quarter earnings reports in the coming weeks, though the rest of the year may provide some relief to battered solar stocks as panel prices stabilize and profit margins recover.

Despite the first-half slump in PV installations and significant inventory build across the PV supply chain, leading polysilicon producer Hemlock Semiconductor would seem to be riding its 50th year in business in style, as Dow Corning management noted that the polysilicon JV arm had remained ?嚙編old-out' in the first half of the year and the situation would remain the same for sometime.

Japanese thin-film manufacturer Solar Frontier has announced today that it's new 900 megawatt (MW) CIS thin-film factory has reached full commercial operation, with all production lines open. At full capacity and in combination with the two existing plants, the new facility brings Solar Frontier's annual capacity to around one gigawatt (GW).

China's strategic development of new energy resources over the next five years will focus on four sectors -- nuclear, wind, solar and biomass power, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday, citing unidentified officials.

Latest figures from the US Treasury Department show that the country has an operating cash balance of US$73.7 billion. Apple's most recent financial results put its reserves at US$76.4 billion.

Texas Instruments (TI) has shipped more than 30 million units of its PowerStack packaging technology, which significantly boosts performance, lowers power and improves chip densities in power management devices.

Expected problems in the automotive supply chain failed to materialize for Infineon Technologies in the second quarter and helped the German chip maker turn in higher than expected sales and profits in its third fiscal quarter ended June 30.

Orders have stalled over the past couple of weeks as semiconductor companies pull back on expansion plans, according to KLA-Tencor. Orders in the fiscal first quarter, which ends in September, will fall as much as 45% from the prior quarter.

Fuji Electric has announced that it will spend JPY18.5 billion (US$240 million) to build an assembly line for power semiconductors at its Yamanashi Prefecture plant. The line will process 8-inch silicon wafers to make the semiconductors.

"We are seeing significant near term declines in wafer fab equipment spending, and as result our September quarter shipments, revenues and earnings per share will be well below our June quarter results," Lam Research CEO Steve Newberry said.

Toshiba has said that operating profits for the fiscal quarter fell 88% as the earthquake hit its power operations and a strong yen bit into earnings, and it kept its annual forecast in line with expectations.

In another sign of trouble in the PV capital equipment sector, Veeco has decided to exit the CIGS solar systems business. Announced as part of the company's second-quarter financials, the move results in a combined negative impact and backlog removal of approximately $71 million on its Q2 GAAP results.

China's LED industry has seen significant development after the initiation of the National Semiconductor Illuminating Project in 2003, says Beijing-based CCID Consulting Co Ltd.

Panasonic Corp., Sony Corp., and Sharp Corp. all bled red ink for the April-June quarter as a result of the March 11 disaster, according to results released Thursday.