A New York-based law firm has named MEMC Electronic Materials Inc. the target of a class action suit, alleging that the company and its CEO failed to disclose production problems that adversely impacted its financial results for the quarter ended June 30.

The US$227-million deal with Tianwei New Energy Wafer, a manufacturer of silicon wafers and photovoltaic cells, calls for the sale and delivery of polysilicon to Tianwei over a 10-year period beginning in mid-2010. The contract adds to an existing US$284-million supply contract signed in August, bringing Tianwei's total orders to US$511 million over the next decade.

Market share figures from iSuppli Corp, show that Spansion has seen NOR flash growth of 7.5% in the second quarter of 2008, reaching nearly 40% overall market share. Spansion is now the third largest supplier in the overall flash memory market rankings. Spansion said that it had now surpassed its nearest rival Numonyx.

Since the program launched in January, NTIA has received 27 million requests from 14 million US households, Meredith Baker, acting NTIA chief, told the subcommittee. Approximately 10 million, or 49%, of those coupons have been redeemed at local retailers. At this point, the agency is averaging 111,000 coupon requests per day.

LDK Solar, a manufacturer of multicrystalline solar wafers, has signed an 11-year processing service agreement to process upgraded metallurgical grade solar-grade silicon provided by Germany-based Q-Cells into wafers. Under the terms of the agreement, LDK Solar will process a minimum of 20,000 metric tons of upgraded metallurgical grade (UMG) solar-grade silicon in the years 2008-2018, with an option to process an additional 21,000 metric tons during the same period.

Currently, a vast majority of all liquid crystal displays in the market are cut from large sheets of glass and are processed separately. This revolutionary roll-to-roll production line enables Kent Displays to efficiently and rapidly produce large quantities of flexible LCDs.

...Cisco, Intel, let's say they bought 15 companies last year. This year, they may only buy eight. That's impacted by the stock market because they have less money to invest," Heeson said. "When a VC invests in a tech the ultimate goal is for that company to go public or get acquired. What happened today in a very unsettled market is it will now be even harder to go public than it has been. That will affect small tech companies for at least the next six months...

T-Mobile USA plans to begin selling the first smart phone powered by Google new mobile software late next month, according to people familiar with the matter, facing off against Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry with a device that blends aspects of both. The phone's manufacturer, HTC, forecasts sales that are rosier than analysts' estimates. HTC says it expects to ship 600,000 to 700,000 units of the smart phone, dubbed the Dream, this year, a person close to the situation said Monday.

Under pressure from the United States and Asia, the European Union proposed Monday to eliminate taxes on imports of newly developed high-tech goods in the hope of avoiding a lengthy and costly World Trade Organization dispute. The US, Japan and Taiwan all filed suit earlier this year over European tariffs on flat-panel computer monitors, cable and satellite boxes that can access the Internet, and printers that can also scan, fax and copy.

Hewlett-Packard (HP), the world's largest computer company, says it plans to cut 24,600 jobs, almost 8% of its workforce, to streamline its business. The cuts will take place over the next three years as it combines operations with Electronic Data Systems, the technology company it recently bought.

Nvidia Corp. and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) seem to have a difficult relationship. Nvidia is not getting the 55-nm capacity it needs from the silicon foundry giant, a problem likely to worsen as the graphics chip maker moves to the 40-nm node, says Doug Freedman, an analyst at American Technology Research.

Shares in solar panel maker Evergreen Solar plunged nearly 28% Monday on investor concerns related to a convertible offering underwritten by now-bankrupt Lehman Brothers. The stock dive followed the largest-ever bankruptcy filing ever by Lehman Brothers Holdings, which filed for Chapter 11 protection after being felled by the credit crisis and lower real estate values.

ontract suppliers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) and Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) will likely benefit from NXP Semiconductors' restructuring plan, which is underscored by closures of several chip-making factories and job cuts.

At VLSI 2007 Symposium, Samsung promised new materials and structures for 56nm. Samsung plans to make a number of changes to the basic transistor design – both for the cell access transistor in the memory array and the peripheral support transistors used to design the control logic. 56nm devices get a "lift" with raised source drains to improve transistor drive current.

Huang Ping-chung, budgeting officer at the Legislative Yuan...commented that "We've long budgeted the purchase," He added that the new TV sets are more economical for they consume less power. "Moreover," he added, "they are safer, because the old ones may explode."

Despite the appearance of a slowing economy, a number of company executives at the CTIA Wireless IT conference here believe that the portable navigation device (PND) market, wireless location-based services (LBS), enterprise, and other segments will continue to grow.