IBM is exploring a sale of its semiconductor business in what would be its most significant strategic move since it faced a financial crisis in the early 1990s.

eMemory and Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) plan to expand the deployment of their current collaboration on SMIC's eNVM platform development. The platform covers both one time programmable (OTP) and multiple times programmable (MTP) eNVM technologies, such as NeoBit, NeoFuse, NeoEE and NeoMTP, across a wide range of technology nodes ranging from 0.35-micron to 40nm.

A plant of Advanced Semiconductor Engineering (ASE) was ordered to shut down Friday by the Kaohsiung Environmental Protection Bureau for multiple violations of regulations governing the discharge of industrial wastewater.

MagnaChip Semiconductor has completed qualification of 0.18-micron EEPROM IP developed in partnership with eMemory Technology, a Taiwan-based non-volatile memory (NVM) IP provider.

The IMEC research center has demonstrated a new FinFET using III-V compound semiconductor material produced on 300mm wafers. This is the first time that such transistors have been produced.

Japan's Panasonic will sell three domestic semiconductor factories to Israel's TowerJazz as early as the current business year ending March, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, bringing the embattled electronics giant closer to completing the overhaul of its loss-making businesses.

Dongbu Group will sell off its core unit Dongbu HiTek, a silicon foundry that makes integrated circuits for other companies under contract, as a way to quell market concerns about the group's financial future.

German semiconductor maker Infineon Technologies has reported higher revenues in the fourth fiscal quarter and forecast an increase in revenues for fiscal 2014.

The semiconductor industry is in a standoff over the next big thing - 3D chip stacks. Someone needs to blink before the technology will be viable for creating the next generation of high-performance, low-power systems.

Activist investor Starboard Value LP asked TriQuint Semiconductor to consider selling or restructuring its mobile power amplifier business, which it said was a drag on the radio frequency chipmaker's share price.

Japanese consumer electronics giant Panasonic will slash its 14,000-strong chipmaking workforce by half and possibly sell some of its plants, the Nikkei business daily reported Wednesday.

The Advanced Patterning Center will offer the global semiconductor ecosystem crucial patterning knowledge for sub-10nm technologies.

Samsung Electronics has begun commissioning equipment orders for its newly constructed semiconductor plant in Xian, China.

Dialog Semiconductor has launched what it claims is the industry's first digital pulse width modulation (PWM) controller that can easily and efficiently drive low-cost, 10W power bipolar junction transistor (BJT) switches to reduce the BOM cost in 5V/2A smartphone adapters and chargers.

Two consortiums, including IBM and STMicroelectronics, have proposed building semiconductor wafer plants in India costing a total of $8 billion, a minister said after the government approved concessions to lure chipmakers.

Micron Semiconductor Asia is laying off some 150 staff in Singapore. That is about 2% of its 7,500-strong workforce here.

Intel has confirmed that it acquired last month Fujitsu Semiconductor Wireless Products, the Tempe, Ariz.-based subsidiary of Fujitsu that developed an advanced multimode LTE RF transceiver. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

When he founded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) in 1987, Morris Chang recalls, "Nobody thought we were going anywhere."

Nova Measuring Instruments, the Israeli maker of equipment for semiconductor manufacturing, rebounded in New York after the chief executive officer said he's confident its largest customer won't pare back orders.

Consumer demand for sophisticated mobile devices creates profitable growth opportunities for Applied's semiconductor and display equipment businesses.

Both Toshiba and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) have developed mask read-only memories (MROMs) that can offer greater data density by storing multiple bits per cell.

Japan's NHK network is scheduled to broadcast an animated documentary on TSMC at midnight Thursday, with TSMC's chairman and CEO, Morris Chang, depicted by the fictional character Shima Kosaku.

IC Insights has lowered its 2013 IC market growth forecast 1pp to 5%.

Worldwide semiconductor revenues decreased by 2.2% to US$295 billion in 2012, according to IDC.

IC Insights forecasts that in 2017, fabless IC companies will command at least one-third (33%) of the total IC market.

SK Hynix Semiconductor will be supplying Samsung Electronics with memory chips as early as June, industry sources said on Monday. The firm will supply enough to make up 20% of Samsung's mobile business.

After strong gains in 2010 and 2011, power transistor sales fell more than 8% in 2012 to US$12.3 billion primarily due to weak economic growth and high levels of uncertainty, which caused equipment makers to rein in semiconductor purchases, according to IC Insights.

Data from Chinese semiconductor industry sources identifies Allwinner as, by far, the number one apps processor supplier for Chinese tablets in 2012, followed by Rockchip, ViaTech, Amlogic and Vimicro.

Worldwide semiconductor revenues reached US$299.9 billion in 2012, down 2.6% from 2011, according to Gartner.

Lenovo, which has maintained a small IC design team consisting of about 10 people over the last decade, is now committed to expanding this team to about 100 engineers by the middle of 2013, according to a China-based industry source with direct knowledge of the company's recruitment of chip designers.

Samsung Semiconductor is moving swiftly to begin work on a new 680,000-square-foot office project that will be built on its existing 215,000-square-foot office complex at North First Street and West Tasman Drive.

The latest toxic gas leaks may not have caused serious physical harm, but the fact that the culprit companies failed to promptly report to state authorities is raising suspicions of corporate negligence.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC), for the first time in a long time, has a good story to tell.

The deal aims at building a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship between Renesas and J-Devices as strategic partners in the semiconductor production business. The two companies intend to complete the transfer on June 1, 2013.

Cadence Design Systems has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Tensilica, a leader in dataplane processing IP, for approximately US$380 million in cash.

China is over-reliant on imported goods for its semiconductor industry, and local chip companies supply only about 10% of its domestic needs as they remain in the development stage despite years of investments.

"Led by continuing strength in the Americas, the global semiconductor industry has built on its momentum from the end of 2012 with an encouraging start to 2013, but ongoing economic uncertainty is holding back more robust growth," said Brian Toohey, president and CEO of Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Wireless is set to be the leading growth segment for semiconductor spending among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in 2013, with expenditures rising by a double-digit margin to support the burgeoning markets for smartphones, tablets and mobile infrastructure gear, according to IHS iSuppli.