Qualcomm has announced the management transition of Steve Mollenkopf to CEO and Paul E. Jacobs to executive chairman of the board of directors.

WhatsApp co-founder and CEO Jan Koum will join Facebook's board of directors.

ASML expects new extreme ultraviolet lithography machines to reach a production standard that satisfies all of its semiconductor-equipment customers by 2017, CEO Peter Wennink said.

Qualcomm's CEO said his company has the capabilities to build ARM server chips but was careful not to disclose any product plans at the International CES in Las Vegas.

Qualcomm will take a wait and see approach before turning to Intel's expanding foundry operation to manufacture its chips, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said Wednesday.

"If we can use our silicon to provide the best computing, we'll do it," Intel CEO Brian Krzanich said. "You will see us focusing on a much broader set of customers."

Apple announced Tuesday that it hired Angela Ahrendts, the chief executive of Burberry, the British luxury fashion company, as a member of its executive team.

Dongbu HiTek is not exactly a household name in the foundry business like TSMC, Globalfoundries and Samsung. But Dongbu, a company described by some as the industry's best kept secret, has been sharpening its strategy, honing its skills, and steadily expanding capacity in South Korea under Chang-Sik Choi, who became its president and CEO a year and a half ago.

Tronics Microsystems, a MEMS manufacturer headquartered in Grenoble, France, has appointed Pascal Langlois as CEO.

Microsoft has stepped into a new and uncertain era with the announcement that CEO Steve Ballmer will retire within 12 months, triggering a search for a successor to take over the software behemoth. The announcement on Friday surprised analysts and investors and sent shares surging, reflecting belief that the company will benefit from new leadership as it tries to innovate and chase the market for smartphones and tablets.

Applied Materials' board of directors has appointed Gary Dickerson as president and chief executive officer (CEO) and Michael Splinter as executive chairman of the board of directors, effective September 1, 2013.

"We are seeing a near-term slowdown in investment by our foundry customers as they focus on ramping (production using) new capacity installed over the past two quarters," said Applied CEO Michael Splinter.

Cisco Systems saw its shares fall sharply late Wednesday after the company announced that it is cutting 4,000 jobs to adjust to what CEO John Chambers called a "challenging" and "inconsistent" economy.

Mali graphics IP core shipments are on course to be more than 300 million units in 2013, more than doubling the 150 million units shipped in 2012, according to Simon Segars, CEO of processor IP licensor ARM.

"Effective immediately, in addition to his current duties in supporting me with global corporate strategy, [President of Global Sales] Jason Mackenzie will lead HTC America," company CEO Peter Chou told employees in an internal email Sunday. "[President of North America] Mike Woodward will lead Emerging Devices, a newly established business unit that will focus on innovative new HTC products and global distribution strategies."

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.

Chinese solar manufacturers are still trying to sell panels at the lowest prices and have failed to adapt to an industry seeking more efficient components, said SunPower CEO Tom Werner.

Samsung's Galaxy S4 handset is well on its way to becoming the company's bestselling smartphone. Samsung Electronics co-CEO Shin Jong-kyun told The Korea Times the Galaxy S4 is set to surpass the 10 million sales mark next week.

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.

"Are you aware that results are what matter? The road to hell is paved with good intentions. Please switch to another road," one shareholder, Hannu Virtanen, told Nokia CEO Stephen Elop.

Intel hasn't signaled a change in strategy with the appointment of Brian Krzanich to CEO, but it is likely that the company will take steps to outrun its foundry competition by opening its industry-leading manufacturing facilities to more third parties.