Toshiba said at a symposium that its 40nm and 45nm process technologies are ready and that the company has moved into "pilot line" production for those fabrication processors. However, Toshiba's main customer, Sony Computer Entertainment, has not yet designed 40nm or 45nm versions of its chips that are used inside Sony PlayStation 3 video game system.

Lam Research, which makes equipment used to manufacture semiconductors, said Thursday its third-quarter profit plummeted 94%, as restructuring costs and weaker demand weighed on the company's performance. Lam said earnings for the quarter ended Sept. 28 declined to US$8.9 million, or 7 cents per share, from US$148.6 million, or US$1.18 per share, in the same quarter last year.

..in July, there were plenty of executives who said they were dead set against 450mm, that it doesn't make economic sense, now or ever, that the industry should focus on reducing cycle times for 300mm tools, and so on. Executives at Applied Materials, ASML, Novellus, all have been adamant in their opposition to 450mm. But re the major IC makers that back the 450mm transition –Intel, Samsung, and TSMC –big enough to get what they want? If such companies control 60-70% of equipment spending, at some point will they get what they want?...

...Broadcom is aggressively expanding into the cell phone market where it competes with other players such as Qualcomm. But analyst Betsy Van Hees of Caris & Co. also pointed to broader industry concerns, saying, "...we think Broadcom will experience a challenging near-term macro environment impacting earnings and revenue growth."

Seiko Epson Corp will exhibit a high resolution 3D LCD at FPD International 2008

An industry-wide consortium of leading lighting experts will build on successes of OLLA research initiative in Europe.

Evergreen said in its lawsuit filed late Monday that Barclays has refused to turn over about 12 million company shares and that Lehman had no right to sell its stock to the British bank. Evergreen's lawsuit, filed in US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, seeks a temporary injunction for Barclays not to sell the shares, and ultimately return them. It is also seeking unspecified damages from Lehman and Barclays.

Shares in Norwegian solar industry group Renewable Energy Corporation (REC) plunged more than 12% after it reported a smaller rise than expected in core earnings for the third quarter and said turmoil would hit demand in the short and medium term. But the group, one of the world's biggest producers of solar-grade silicon and wafers for solar energy systems, said its long-term market demand remained strong.