While the current economic environment is imposing severe constraints on the semiconductor equipment industry, the primary driver for increasing profitability for leading-edge chipmakers is still Moore's Law...

While the headlines on Mosaid Technologies are about the patent-infringement suit it launched against IBM, the case won't be resolved for years. Of more pressing concern is whether Mosaid can renew its patent-license agreement with Samsung Electronics.

...Cash flow is improving while Rivals are shutting factories. Perhaps most important, Micron has been cutting its production costs, betting that increased financial efficiency will help it survive any further shakeout along with the market leader Samsung Electronics.

Hynix Semiconductor has said it would cut its investment in a new production facility by 45% and extend the investment period.

After not finding an investor eager to acquire the whole company, Qimonda has appointed several companies to sell 300mm production equipment from the firm's manufacturing facilities in Germany and the US.

There is considerable debate about second-half 2009. Some are bulls. Some are bears. Some are in both camps.

Raj Seth, an analyst with Cowen and Co. LLC, has indicated that Teradyne is readying a tester for "DDR3" applications. That implies that the automatic test equipment giant is entering the DRAM test market, thereby going toe-to-toe with Japan's Advantest.

Elpida Memory, which operates one of the world's largest DRAM memory fabs in Hiroshima (Japan), will undergo a major internal transformation as the company battles a continued over capacity in the memory markets and seeks Japanese Government funds to continue operations.

Elpida Memory will receive 50 billion yen (US$521 million) from the Japanese government and a Taiwanese partner after falling semiconductor prices led to a net loss last fiscal year, Japan's economy ministry said.

Japanese PC chip maker Elpida Memory will receive financial support of about 200 billion yen ($2.1 billion) from the government and public and private sector banks, the Nikkei business daily said on Saturday.

Micron Technology's fiscal third-quarter loss widened on lower sales and a write-down on the value of its imaging unit, but its gross margin turned positive after three negative quarters as the cost of producing chips fell below their selling price. The loss was the 10th consecutive quarterly loss for the memory-chip maker.

Samsung Electronics' memory chip business is expected to return to the black in the second quarter thanks to production cutbacks and steady rises in chip prices.

Struggling chip maker Elpida Memory has applied for a new government financial aid program in a bid to shore up its capital base and ride out a severe industry downturn, sources said.

Rambus has showcased an XDR memory system that delivers data rates of up to 7.2Gbps, with Elpida's recently-announced 1Gb XDR DRAM device.

Hynix Semiconductor's contract prices for DRAM chips will likely continue to rise at least until the third quarter, a person familiar with the situation said Friday.

Elpida Memory is still considering applying for a public funds injection, a company spokeswoman said Friday.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that politicians needed to consider whether to aid struggling chipmaker Qimonda and its peers in Germany.

Hynix Semiconductor plans to raise its contract price for DRAMs by an additional 10% later this month on signs of increased demand, a high-ranking industry source said Friday.

"We are in discussions with some local and foreign companies for possible cooperation. There might be some different business styles," ProMOS Vice-President Ben Tseng told Reuters.

Samsung may ask its key PC-related clients to pay more. Hynix was looking for a chance to raise its contract-based chip prices for the second straight month.

Nanometrics has begun shipping its Lynx cluster metrology systems, as a follow-on order to a leading memory manufacturer as part of its plan for high-volume manufacturing of its latest DRAM and flash memory technologies.

Samsung Electronics said it will press ahead with its research and development effort. The world's biggest producer of DRAM chips is to spend some US$2 billion on chips R&D for 2009.

A collection of top memory manufacturers formalized their commitment to developing a low-power DRAM for use in mobile devices on Monday. The backdrop, unfortunately, was a catastrophic drop in DRAM revenue, as measured by Gartner.

The two biggest producers, Samsung Electronics and Hynix Semiconductor, won larger shares of the shrinking market in DRAM chips in the first quarter, industry research firm DRAMeXchange said on Monday.

The idea that Russia might save Qimonda to any great effect in the global chip industry is, I am afraid, ridiculous. And that's with or without the involvement of Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin in the discussions. But that does not mean an attempt will not be made.

Samsung Electronics Friday said global demand for memory chips will improve in the second quarter and expects global shipments of personal computers to rise by a low-single percentage from the preceding quarter.

Hynix Semiconductor Wednesday said it will sell 70 million shares via a rights offering. The Korean chipmaker's main creditor Korea Exchange Bank said earlier this month that the creditors have reached agreement to allow the chipmaker to raise around 700 billion won (US$519 million) through a rights offering.

Qimonda North America has appointed advisors for the sale of its semiconductor manufacturing assets in Sandston, Virginia, subject to bankruptcy court approval.

Elpida Memory, Japan's largest maker of computer-memory chips, climbed to the highest in six months in Tokyo trading after it said it plans to raise chip prices and a report said the company may receive public funding.

Elpida Memory, Japan's largest maker of computer-memory chips, plans to raise prices as much as 50% and break even by June as industry-wide production cuts help ease a supply glut.

Japan's government is considering providing funds to Elpida Memory to bolster its capital, NHK said, without providing an amount or saying where it got the information.

According to Gartner Inc analysis, both memory segments showed some pricing gains in the business week ending April 10.

Qimonda AG's Portuguese unit said it's reducing its workforce to 1,000 and suspending the contracts of 800 of the remaining employees for six months.

The Japanese government will lift punitive tariffs on computer chips South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor makes, leading to a settlement of a three-year-old trade dispute between the two countries, Kyodo News reported Monday, citing Finance Ministry officials.

Micron Technology has announced that it intends to offer, subject to market and other considerations, common stock and convertible senior notes for total aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$450 million. The company said these offerings will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures, and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions.

Powerchip Semiconductor Corp., Taiwan's biggest memory-chip maker, is seeking to revise terms on US$157.9 million of debt a week after smaller rival ProMOS Technologies won acceptance to buy back debt at a discount.

Taiwan Memory Co., keen on securing technology from foreign chip makers, is looking to forge an alliance with Micron Technology on top of a partnership announced Wednesday with Elpida Memory, but a three-way tie-up may be complicated and won't provide meaningful benefits, say analysts.

Elpida Memory said Thursday it is considering offering an approximately 10% stake in the company to Taiwan Memory Co., the memory-chip firm being created by the Taiwanese government. The Japanese DRAM chipmaker hasn't decided on the amount of the stake in monetary terms, the timing or how it would be offered.

"I expect that the number of DRAM makers will be reduced by three or four from the current 10 this year," said Hynix Semiconductor CEO Kim Jong-kap.