Chartered CFO George Thomas said wafer shipments are expected to increase about 60% from the fiscal first quarter, and the loss is expected to be about US$10 million smaller than previously forecast. The chip foundry now expects a loss of 57-67 cents per American Depositary Share on revenues of US$338-348 million.

Colorado gained jobs in "clean energy" industries twice as fast as the state's job-growth rate as a whole in the 10 years ending in 2007, according to a study.

Toshiba has said it will shoulder US$307 million in restructuring costs from shutting down its old system chip and discrete chip lines as it seeks to unload losses.

Yahoo has named Altera's CFO as its finance chief, the latest move by the Internet company to rebuild itself in the image of its new chief executive. Analyst said the hiring of Morse suggested that Bartz wanted someone to focus on "no-frills financial management."

Hynix Semiconductor plans to raise its contract price for DRAMs by an additional 10% later this month on signs of increased demand, a high-ranking industry source said Friday.

Hoku Scientific said it could be forced to delay completing construction of a polysilicon plant in Idaho if the company is unable to raise capital. Because of its financial woes, the Hawaii-based fuel cell-maker said it may not be able to continue ''as a going concern'' for the next 12 months.