Elpida Memory has decided not to receive capital from a Taiwanese company because businesses are improving, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing an interview with President Yukio Sakamoto.

The lawsuit that Apple filed on Tuesday against HTC opens up a lot of questions about the future of Android phones like the Nexus One and the cellphone market in general.

Plextor, a maker of optical drives, has announced the release of its first-generation SSDs that use Marvell controller chipsets. Plextor SSDs are available now, with MSRP around US$225 for 64GB and US$400 for 128GB.

Japan's unemployment rate fell below 5% for the first time in a year in January 2010, as strong exports fed into a strengthening economic recovery.

Tessera Technologies has signed an updated technology licensing agreement with United Test and Assembly Center (UTAC), which provides test and assembly services for a wide range of semiconductor devices. The initial term of the updated license agreement runs through the end of 2016.

Japan-based Mitsubishi Electric has announced it plans to almost triple production of solar cells in two years to meet demand for renewable energy. The company last month finished construction of a 24,000 square meter (258,000 square feet) plant in northern Japan that may begin operating this fall.

Kwon Young-soo, chief executive of LG Display, recently discussed the outlook for the LCD flat-panel industry this year, where the company sees the industry heading in terms of technology and his vision for the company.

Prices on futures of the metal traded on the London Metal Exchange (LME) touched US$7,600 a tonne, the highest since 20 January. Officials in Chile - the world's biggest copper miner - have promised to honour its export commitments.

The hackers who broke into Google two months ago have gone after more than 100 companies, according to an estimate by security vendor Isec Partners.

The deal will end years of litigation between companies - like Micron Technology, Hynix Semiconductor and Infineon Technologies - and indirect purchasers of DRAM memory chips, which includes California and several other states.

SanDisk now expects first-quarter revenues will reach between NT$925 million and NT$1 billion, compared to the originally estimated NT$875-925 million. (and vs. consensus estimates of $942.4 million).

The contracts include a US$137 million follow-on order from a large Chinese customer, as well as orders from Tianwei New Energy, Phoenix Photovoltaic Technology, Yingli Green Energy, JA Solar, Taiwan-based Sino-American Silicon Products (SAS), and one other customer.

Applied Materials CFO George Davis recently remarked there is reason to think the second half will see orders from Tier 2 DRAM players, and from some additional segments of the market, in particular NAND flash.

Anyone who buys an electric car will be able to take advantage of a subsidy of up to 5,000 pounds (US$7,684) under plans to be set out by the government.