Market speculation on the size of the investment has grown since the South Korean firm said two weeks ago that its chip unit would sharply raise capital spending for 2010, with some media reports penciling in a record 20 trillion won (US$17.7 billion).

The bill that could raise the admissions bar locally and send Taiwan students to offshore schools has finally received approval in parliament, after legislators grabbed one another's arms and necks.

Silver Lake Sumeru, the middle market investment group of Silver Lake, has announced that it recently closed on an investment in Spansion. Spansion has successfully emerged from bankruptcy.

Sony has reported a loss of 40.8 billion yen (US$437m) for the year to the end of March, less than half the loss it made the previous year.

The patent wars are raging in the mobile device market, and they could result in rising costs for handset makers and higher gadget prices for wireless carriers and consumers.

For Research in Motion, the maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphone, staying No. 1 isn't about apps or fancy hardware, it's about cost effectiveness.

The eurozone managed only modest economic growth in the first quarter of 2010, with Germany's performance, held back by the bitter winter, failing to kick-start a broader recovery in the 16-country region.

Professor Peter Denyer, a pioneer of CMOS imaging sensor technology for cameras, died of cancer on April 22.

Hynix Semiconductor has said it sold 5-year bonds worth US$500 million abroad that could be converted into its shares at 34,580 won apiece.

Apple questions research that says smartphones using Google's Android OS have surpassed iPhone sales in the US.

The 23.3 trillion Korean won (US$21 billion) investment is aimed at developing five new businesses that the company expects to create 45,000 new jobs and generate 50 trillion won in annual revenue for affiliate companies by 2020, Samsung said in a statement Tuesday.