The drives have arrived more than a year after SanDisk announced them, and more than six months after they were originally supposed to ship. A spokeswoman said the delay was due to a desire to "optimize" the product.

German exports in 2009 were equivalent to US$1,121.3 billion which compared with the US$1,201.7 billion exported by China. China's goods exports also suffered badly last year, falling by 16% over the course of the year, the first time they had declined since 1978.

Mixed-signal foundry LFoundry (Landshut, Germany) plans to acquire Atmel's fab in Rousset, France, the site of recent worker unrest. CEO Michael Lehnert said the proposed acquisition will make LFoundry the largest analog foundry in Europe.

Robust German exports have helped calm fears that the economic recovery in Europe's largest economy is losing momentum.

Europe's top antitrust regulator agreed to end its investigation of memory chip maker Rambus on December 9, after the firm agreed to change the way it licenses its industry-standard technology.

The fall in cost is due to the increased lifetime, according to the independent EU Energy Institute.

Dubai's debt problems shook markets that are recovering from the collapse of the US housing market and contagion that threatened to rupture the global financial system last year.

Sun Microsystems plans to eliminate up to 3,000 jobs, or 10% of its worldwide workforce, as it awaits a takeover by Oracle, a deal being held up by antitrust regulators in Europe. Sun said the job cuts will happen over 2010 and affect all of Sun's major regions, including North America, Europe, Asia and emerging markets.

Consumer electronics maker Panasonic Corp., which already has a big chunk of Japan's home appliance market, is accelerating its push into Europe and India by considering local production in those regions to take advantage of lower costs.

German conglomerate Siemens and US powerhouse General Electric (GE) have both underlined their commitment to the renewable energy sector after shelling out to acquire two high-profile Israeli solar energy firms.

An encouraging set of results from Philips, the Dutch consumer electronics manufacturer, helped set a positive tone for European markets.

Neelie Kroes, the European Commissioner in charge of antitrust issues, would undoubtedly be most satisfied to see the Microsoft dossier closed before she goes.

The European Semiconductor Sales index climbed 1.2% in July, says market research company e-forecasting.com. The indicator has increased month over months in a row over the last six months.

Sony Entertainment has announced it is reducing the price of its PlayStation 3 games consoles. In Europe the price has been lowered to 299 euros, in the US to US$299 and in the UK to £249.99.

German exports rose 7% in June, the fastest pace in nearly three years, in the latest sign of recovery in Europe's biggest economy, official figures show.

South Korea has announced that it had concluded negotiations on a free trade agreement (FTA) with the EU that it hoped would encourage US lawmakers to ratify a free trade deal with the country.

The Milan trade fair has said it is commissioning the world's biggest rooftop photovoltaic power installation covering some 270,000 square meters.

Sales of semiconductors in Europe in May again underperformed other regions, according to an analysis of the figures by the Semiconductor Industry Association provided by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization.

The European market for consumer electronics is going to shrink in 2009 — for the first time since the mid-nineties, says German IT industry association Bitkom. The reason, however, is not the economy crisis.

Confidence is beginning to return to UK and mainland European businesses but it has still not reached levels seen in the autumn last year, according to a quarterly business survey released on Tuesday.

Dutch consumer electronics giant Philips reported a surprise first quarter loss of US$78.9 million compared to a US$390 million profit a year ago. Europe's biggest electronics firm is a casualty of slowing global demand as the recession continues to take its toll on sales, which fell 17% to US$6.8 billion.

BP on Wednesday said it would cut 620 jobs from its solar power business and that two plants in Spain and part of a plant in the US would be shut as it looks to reduce costs at its renewable energy division.

"We need to find a European solution, and to back it up with the EU is a challenge — it takes time and if we wait too long, some of these companies might not exist anymore," said Heinz Kundert, president of SEMI Europe. Kundert said that the full-scale rescue of Qimonda would be quite difficult. "These projects are too big to be solved by one company or a single nation."

Nokia, the world's largest mobile phone maker, has announced plans to shed 1,700 jobs worldwide as part of a major cost-cutting drive.