Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou said on Monday the island has not considered allowing the island's LCD firms to make large panels on the mainland for now, saying it will only cautiously export its technology expertise to China.

Taiwan's government will invest in an innovative memory chip company to a maximum of NT$10 billion, and only if such an enterprise can secure core technology and help Taiwan to stay competitive in the field, Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang said on October 15.

President Ma Ying-jeou suddenly realized it needed to focus on matters closer to home.

EDA company Mentor Graphics has entered into a multi-year software and services agreement with Globalfoundries which includes the provision of Calibre software for the design of 32nm and 28nm chips.

The current industry shortage of LCD panels could continue through the middle of next year, the head of a unit at Japan's Sharp said, in a potential move to shore up investor confidence in panel makers.

Consumer electronics maker Panasonic Corp., which already has a big chunk of Japan's home appliance market, is accelerating its push into Europe and India by considering local production in those regions to take advantage of lower costs.

Consumer sentiment as measured by the Reuters/University of Michigan index fell to 69.4 in early October, below the 73.5 print in late September, which economists were expecting would remain unchanged.

Beijing's four-trillion-yuan (US$586 billion) stimulus package, unveiled in November 2008, "has played a very good role in the recovery of the Chinese economy," said Xiong Bilin, a vice director general of the National Development and Reform Commission.

First Solar is the first pure-play renewable energy company to join the S&P 500 Index.

German conglomerate Siemens and US powerhouse General Electric (GE) have both underlined their commitment to the renewable energy sector after shelling out to acquire two high-profile Israeli solar energy firms.

Uruguay has become the first country to provide a netbook (OLPC XO) for every child attending state primary school.

SVTC and TSMC will work with developers to bring to market new applications in emerging technologies such as micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS), biochips and other devices incorporating new materials and novel structures.

"I am encouraged by the broad-based recovery in our business," said Moshe Gavrielov, Xilinx President and CEO. "September quarter operating margin was 20%, up from 15% in the prior quarter."

Taiwan's DRAM makers "don't have enough money to invest in new technology," said Keich Lee, manager of memory marketing for Samsung Electronics. "We think after the downturn, the strong will get stronger and the weak will get weaker."

Nokia has reported a loss for the July to September quarter after sales sank by almost a fifth.