Shares of MEMC Electronic Materials, which makes silicon wafers for the semiconductor and solar industries, rose as much as 14% on speculation that the company received a takeover offer from German chemicals group BASF.

"I expect that the number of DRAM makers will be reduced by three or four from the current 10 this year," said Hynix Semiconductor CEO Kim Jong-kap.

Growth in Vietnam stumbled to its slowest rate in a decade in the first quarter, falling to 3.1% year-on-year as its export-driven economy is strangled by tumbling global demand and inward investment.

Chinese telecommunications-equipment maker Huawei Technologies has won a contract to supply the network infrastructure for a cellphone service that cable-TV provider Cox Communications plans to launch in some markets later this year, people familiar with the matter say.

Qimonda's insolvency administrator Michael Jaffe was hoping for signs that there would be further talks in both countries, Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported on Thursday, citing company sources.

IBM will cut about 5,000 jobs in the US, adding to similarly large cuts in the past few months, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Wednesday.

The Centre for Democracy and Technology told the BBC: "China's actions fail to live up to international norms." The video sharing site has been off limits in China since Monday. Earlier in the week, the BBC reported from Beijing that China cut off access to the website because it carried a video showing soldiers beating monks and other Tibetans.

Global sales of Nintendo's Wii console have passed 50 million, the company's boss Satoru Iwata has said. The Wii is now the fastest-selling games console in history, surpassing the PlayStation 2.

Toyoda Gosei and Showa Denko have signed a patent cross-licensing agreement, while Cree and Honeywell have agreed to end their patent dispute. Cree settles lawsuit with Honeywell

With sophisticated thermal management technology, NeoPac Opto has developed an LED light engine with a single multi-chip LED emitter that can deliver 1500 lm at 30W.

The global semiconductor industry is likely to have hit its bottom in the fourth quarter of last year, the chief executive of South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor said Thursday.

Environmental campaigners say they are astonished at the government's decision to suspend a scheme which gave grants to schools, hospitals and other public buildings to switch to renewable energy. Renewable energy experts say it has all been disastrous and could leave the UK at a competitive disadvantage in the future.

When Toshiba's fuel cell-powered phone was announced last October of 2008, the purported release date was March of this year. Unfortunately, the month is coming to a close, but we are yet to see any telltale signs of the phone's release whatsoever. But even if the phone in question is nowhere in sight, Toshiba is commencing the mass production of its fuel cell products.

Japan's exports saw a record plunge in February, falling by nearly half compared with a year earlier, according to the country's finance ministry.

"We'll recover from this recession, but it will take time, it will take patience, and it will take an understanding that, when we all work together, when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interest to the wider set of obligations we have towards each other, that's when we succeed..."