Toyota has now resumed car production at all of its plants in Japan for the first time since last month's earthquake and tsunami. However, the car manufacturer said that production would be half of its normal level because of parts shortages.

Japanese voters are critical of Prime Minister Naoto Kan's handling of the crisis at a crippled nuclear plant and support raising taxes to finance rebuilding plans after last month's earthquake and tsunami, surveys show.

Samsung is looking to sell the unit for US$1.5 billion, but it may consider a deal under US$1 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter. A potential buyer is Seagate Technology.

Sequans Communications has announced the pricing of its initial public offering of American Depositary Shares (ADSs), representing 7,700,000 ordinary shares, at a price to the public of US$10.00 per ADS. The ADSs began trading on April 15 on the New York Stock Exchange.

It may seem strange this has not happened before - Chinese students make up some of the largest groups of foreign students in many countries, including the US and UK.

NHN and Daum Communications, operators of South Korea's two largest Internet search sites, said in statements they filed complaints against Google with the country's Fair Trade Commission for blocking local phone carriers and manufacturers from embedding their search applications in devices using the Android operating system.

Apple will start selling a white version of its iPhone 4 in the next few weeks, following a 10-month delay, three people with knowledge of the plans said. The release was stalled as Apple resolved manufacturing challenges including paint that peeled under heat.

Shin-Etsu Chemical has said that it will partially resume production at an earthquake-stricken silicon wafer factory in Fukushima Prefecture within a week or two.

President Barack Obama has vowed to cut US$4 trillion in cumulative deficits within 12 years through a combination of spending cuts and tax increases.

The reserves increase as Beijing buys dollars and other foreign currency to restrain the rise of its yuan as export revenues and investment pour into its economy. In freer trading, that flood of cash would push up the yuan's value against the dollar, making Chinese exports more expensive abroad.

Intel and Micron Technology will make an announcement about NAND flash on April 14. The companies have not disclosed the details. "I believe that they will announce the finalization of their Singapore agreement-IMFS-that will bring up 25nm first and then 20nm later," said Alan Niebel, CEO of Web-Feet Research.

A Chinese employee of South Korea's Samsung Electronics has been arrested for allegedly trying to leak confidential business information, a Seoul prosecutor said Wednesday. The confidential information included Samsung's key technologies on reducing noise of home appliances, details of products under development and sales plans for the next 10 years.

Zoom Technologies has signed a licensing pact with chipmaker Qualcomm, allowing the Chinese mobile phone maker to develop and sell 3G devices using Qualcomm's chip patents.

Ford is to cut its workforce in Victoria by 240 after a slump in demand for larger cars, and competitor Toyota will reduce hours for manufacturing staff in the wake of the Japanese earthquake disaster.

Bruce Sohn, First Solar's president of operations, may pursue work as chief executive of another solar company when he steps down at the end of this month, an analyst said. A First Solar spokesman said he couldn't comment on Sohn's departure.

ASML has said first-quarter orders fell 27% as clients took more time to place orders because of disruptions by the Japanese earthquake. The quake is hurting the business of some ASML clients.

Intel has designed a handset that may be manufactured by China's ZTE, according to people with knowledge of the plan. The phone, based on a version of Intel's Atom microprocessor, may go on sale in China.

Cisco is shutting down the consumer-oriented Flip camera business that it bought for US$590 million in 2009. The move will mean the loss of 550 jobs worldwide, cost Cisco US$300 million - and disappoint thousands of users who had enjoyed the devices' simplicity.

Freescale Semiconductor has entered into a strategic alliance with Fuji Electric to collaborate on insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) technology and products for hybrid electric and electric vehicles (HEV and EV).

Last fall, industry analysts predicted there would be an oversupply of manufacturing capacity due to a market correction following the strong revenue posted in 2010, but following the earthquake, tsunami, and now nuclear crisis in Japan, the landscape looks different.

The deficit for the first three months of 2011 stood at US$1.02 billion, according to the latest data by the General Administration of Customs. China has said that it is working towards increasing domestic demand and becoming less reliant on exports to sustain its growth.

Japanese authorities have raised the severity rating of their nuclear crisis to the highest level, seven. The decision reflects the total release of radiation at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which is ongoing, rather than a sudden deterioration.

A Business Insider report cited discussions between Avian Securities and one of Apple's parts manufacturers that suggest we might not see a next generation iPhone until the end of 2011 or even early 2012. And recently, a Japanese-language site, Macotakara.jp, uncovered a report that revealed Apple hasn't yet ordered components for the iPhone 5.

Nokia workers are bracing for what may be the steepest job cuts in almost two decades as the company prepares to start a partnership with Microsoft. A reduction in R&D activities is set to be announced by the end of April, with as many as 6,000 jobs under threat.

Chinese silicon wafer producer Jiangsu Huantai, a joint venture partner of MEMC Electronic Materials, aims to go public in 2012, according to company chairman Wang Lubao. Huantai expects to begin manufacturing LED materials later in 2011.

An aftershock that shook Japan's northeast region temporarily shut down power supply and makeshift cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi plant Monday, highlighting the vulnerability of the crippled facility a month after a massive earthquake triggered the nation's worst nuclear-power crisis.