Samsung topped the Indian smartphones market with 40.4 per cent share during the January-March quarter. Total smartphone sales touched 2.7 million units during the quarter.

Samsung Electronics expects cumulative sales of its latest smartphone Galaxy S3 to top 10 million units during July, JK Shin, head of its telecommunications business, said on Monday.

The massive gray market for cellphones is propelling sales of lower-cost flash memories like embedded multimedia card (eMMC) and serial peripheral interface (SPI) NOR, as manufacturers of the unregulated phones strive to keep production costs low, according to IHS iSuppli.

Toshiba has predicted profit will rise 83% as sales recover from a slump caused by the strong yen, falling prices and natural disasters.

German microchip maker Infineon raised its full-year sales outlook after demand for its energy efficiency, mobility and security chips, particularly from the car industry, helped second-quarter results beat expectations.

RF chip maker TriQuint Semiconductor cut about 70 jobs in Florida last week after issuing a disappointing quarterly report and sales forecast, according to a report by the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

Xilinx rose as much as 8.1% in extended trading after forecasting sales this quarter that may beat some analysts' estimates.

Qualcomm has warned that it was losing sales of its latest high-end chips because of limited supplies, with some customers likely to turn to rivals.

Samsung Electronics probably overtook Nokia as the top handset seller for the first time, helped by the popularity of the Galaxy smartphones, according to analyst estimates.

Although only 2% growth was registered in the worldwide semiconductor market in 2011, several companies posted results that were far different, according to IC Insights.

Samsung Electronics has said it expects its profit for the first three months of 2012 to almost double as its smartphone sales continue to grow. While Samsung's phone unit has prospered, other divisions, including memory chip manufacturing, have been going through a tough time.

Memory chipmaker Micron Technology, which rocked in February by the death of its CEO in a plane crash, on Thursday posted a US$224 million net loss in the second quarter as sales fell.

Apple announced Monday that it has sold three million of the new iPad since its launch on March 16.

Despite an amended wafer supply agreement that gives AMD the right to use other foundries to make its 28nm accelerated processing units (APUs), Globalfoundries expects AMD to increase its business with the firm in 2012.

"The contract is expected to rise to US$11 billion by the end of this year as Apple is planning to release a smaller iPad, probably with a 7.85-inch screen, and to sell more of its MacBook Air PCs using Samsung's faster SSD storage," said a Samsung official.

Infineon's chief executive Peter Bauer has said the company wants to generate 50% of its total sales from Asia over the long term. Since it made over 40% of sales from Asia in fiscal 2011, it is clearly making progress on its target.

US retail sales rose in January, but were dragged down by an unexpected decline in auto sales, according to government data released Tuesday. Overall retail sales were up 0.4% compared to December.

Meanwhile, the South Korean companies surpassed the Japanese companies in IC marketshare for the first time in 2011, IC Insights said in its recent report.

Price declines accelerated in the latter part of the fourth quarter, CFO Judy Bruner said on a conference call. That, along with lower orders from some mobile-phone customers, will hurt sales in the first quarter, she said.

Nokia has posted an operating loss of US$1.25 billion in the fourth quarter as unexpectedly high Windows Phone sales and a US$250 million payment from Microsoft weren't enough to compensate for worse than anticipated declines in the company's legacy smartphone lines.

Prior to joining Globalfoundries, Michael Noonen served as executive vice president, sales and marketing as a member of NXP Semiconductors' executive management team from 2008 to 2011.

The world's top maker of memory chips and smartphones is set to report a robust quarterly profit rise on Friday, starting 2012 on an upbeat note aided by record-smashing sales of smartphones.

Micron Technology has posted a net loss of US$187 million, or US$0.19 per diluted share, on net sales of US$2.1 billion for the company's first quarter of fiscal 2012 (ended December 1, 2011).

Worldwide semiconductor revenues are forecast to reach US$309 billion in 2012, a 2.2% increase from 2011, according to Gartner. This outlook is down from Gartner's previous projection in the third quarter for 4.6% growth in 2012.

"We expect strong tree sales this year and strong holiday sales overall," said Jean Niemi, a spokeswoman for Atlanta- based Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home-improvement retailer. "History shows us that even in a down economy, the Christmas tradition isn't one that families part with."

Apple's 4S topped the list at all major carriers offering the device in the US, while the Samsung Galaxy S2 took the crown at T-Mobile. The S2 also came in second at Sprint and AT&T, sandwiched in between Apple's 4S and iPhone 4, while the Motorola Droid Razr and HTC Rezound rounded out the top three at Verizon, where the S2 is not sold.

The Black Friday glad tidings from consumer electronics makers continued on Tuesday, with Sony announcing a big rise in US sales and Microsoft reporting a record week for its Xbox 360 console and Kinect controller. The news followed Nintendo's announcement on Monday of receord sales of its Wii and 3DS gaming machines.

The announcement comes just weeks after HTC warned that its revenues could fall by much more the 8% in this quarter compared to the third quarter.

Applied Materials has forecast first-quarter sales and profit that fell short of analysts' predictions, a sign that semiconductor makers are scaling back expansion plans.

Infineon Technologies has said sales in fiscal 2012 will drop by a "mid-single-digit percentage" as customers hold off on orders.

In the face of slumping TV sales and a glut of panels for liquid crystal displays, Sony is considering options for its LCD panel joint venture with South Korea's Samsung Electronics, including possibly ending the alliance, according to a person familiar with the matter.