Chipmaking equipment supplier BE Semiconductor said on Friday it planned to boost its operations in the United States and Taiwan as its top customers ramp up investment to meet a surge in chip demand.

Export controls against China will not only fail to halt its technological progress but also hurt the US economy, ASML CEO Peter Wennink said, after trade tensions between Washington and Beijing led to restrictions on the sale of the Dutch company's advanced chip equipment to Chinese firms.

Samsung Electronics beat analyst estimates for profit in the first quarter, but warned of continued fallout from semiconductor shortages as the global economy recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Intel wants EUR8 billion (US$9.7 billion) in public subsidies towards building a semiconductor factory in Europe, its CEO was quoted as saying on Friday, as the region seeks to reduce its reliance on imports amid a shortage of supplies.

The UK's Department for Transport has said automated lane-keeping systems (ALKS) would be the first type of hands-free driving to be legalized.

GF has invested more than $15 billion in its Fab 8 facility over the last decade to support innovation and manufacturing capacity. In 2021, the company is doubling its planned investment to expand global capacity, with $500 million targeted for Malta, NY alone.

Shipments of the new chipset - tentatively known as the M2, after Apple's current M1 processor - could begin as early as July for use in MacBooks that are scheduled to go on sale in the second half of this year.

The EU's industry commissioner Thierry Breton is to meet with Intel chief executive Pat Gelsinger and a top TSMC executive this week as the bloc seeks added sway in the semiconductor supply chain.

Mitsubishi Motors will slash output by 16,000 units worldwide in May, the Japanese automaker said Friday, after a factory fire at key supplier Renesas Electronics squeezed the already tight global supply of automotive semiconductors.

The boss of networking giant Cisco has said the shortage of computer chips is set to last for most of this year.

Toshiba's second-biggest shareholder called on the Japanese conglomerate to undergo a strategic review and explicitly solicit suitors, saying potential acquirers were deterred by the company's comments on wanting to remain listed.

Samsung Electronics might be shopping for an acquisition.

The popularity of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin has resulted in shortages of graphics cards as miners buy them in bulk. Now a new cryptocurrency is set to create another component shortage, only this time it's hard drives and SSDs that will be hard to find.

Skyworks is paying US$2.75 billion to diversify its business away from Apple. Wall Street thinks the chip maker is getting a bargain.

Intel has confirmed a Covid-19 outbreak on the construction site for its new fab in Ireland. The chipmaker said about 70 cases had been confirmed so far.

Tsinghua University officially inaugurated its new school for integrated circuits on Thursday, striving to cultivate talents for the country's IC industry and make indigenous Chinese chips.

ASML sharpened its full-year guidance as demand for its chip-making equipment soared during the global semiconductor shortage.

Samsung Electronics' Austin plant is expected to be fully normalized in June at the earliest.

According to cellphone location data analyzed by Nikkei, 14,000 people from among the Japanese company's business partners and other organizations participated in the recovery of Renesas Electronics, which resumed semiconductor production on April 17 at its Naka plant in Ibaraki Prefecture. The plant had been partially shut down because of a fire.

Toshiba said a potential acquisition offer from CVC Capital Partners has stalled after the firm submitted a new proposal that lacks sufficient information for evaluation.

Chip industry executives have a huge collective challenge: deciding how to prioritize the $50 billion in support promised by President Joseph R. Biden in an executive order.

China's GAC plans to roll out its first vehicle model with autonomous driving functions developed with Huawei Technologies after 2024, GAC's general manager told reporters at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show on Monday.

Toshiba's chief executive resigned on Wednesday amid controversy over a $20bn buyout bid from private equity firm, CVC Capital Partners.

US President Joe Biden met with executives from major companies on Monday to discuss the global chip shortage that has hit automakers and spurred Intel to announce it plans to make chips for car plants at its factories in the next six to nine months.

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei Technologies is making business resilience its top priority with a push to develop its software capabilities as it seeks to overcome US restrictions that have devastated its smartphone business.

Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment has started preparations for a US initial public offering of chipmaker Globalfoundries, people with knowledge of the matter said.

Broadband providers are seeing delays of more than a year when ordering internet routers, becoming yet another victim of chip shortages choking global supply chains and adding challenges for millions still working from home.

Tighter US sanctions against China's Huawei Technologies announced in May 2020 shifted the global semiconductor supply chain in a way nobody had expected, with a flood of orders enriching Taiwanese foundries and changing the island's landscape.

General Motors is extending production cuts at some of its North America factories due to a chip shortage that has roiled the global automotive industry, the US carmaker said on Thursday.

The Biden administration on Thursday placed seven Chinese firms and government labs under US export controls for their involvement in China's effort to build supercomputers that help develop nuclear and other advanced military weapons. All seven are linked to China's ambition to build the world's first exascale computer, Commerce Department officials said.

Production of some MacBooks and iPads has been postponed due to the global component shortage, Nikkei Asia has learned, in a sign that even Apple, with its massive procurement power, is not immune from the unprecedented supply crunch.

Tianshu Zhixin said in January that BI was made using an unidentified 7nm process node and 2.5D chip-on-wafer-on-substrate (CoWoS) packaging. On Wednesday, it confirmed our suspicion that BI was made using TSMC's 7nm FinFET process.

Samsung Electronics likely saw a 45% jump in profit for January-March on robust sales of smartphones, TVs and home appliances, though chip division earnings are seen tumbling after a storm suspended production at its US plant.

Micron Technology on Wednesday forecast fiscal third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates due to a rise in demand for memory chips thanks to 5G smartphones and artificial intelligence software that is pushing memory chip prices upward.

"I have never seen anything like this in the past 20 years since our company's founding," said Jordan Wu, co-founder and chief executive officer of Himax Technologies, a leading supplier of display drivers. "Every application is short of chips."

Subaru will reduce vehicle production by about 10,000 autos at a Japanese assembly plant as the industry struggles with a shortage of chips.

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger will virtually attend a meeting being put together by President Joe Biden's administration for April 12 to discuss the semiconductor supply chain issues disrupting US automotive factories, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Micron Technology and Western Digital are each exploring a potential deal for Kioxia Holdings that could value the Japanese semiconductor company at around US$30 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

The global shortage of semiconductors and winter storm that devastated Texas last month probably cost carmakers production of about 1.3 million vehicles this quarter, according to IHS Markit.

Arm has unveiled the biggest overhaul of its technology in almost a decade, with new designs targeting markets currently dominated by Intel.