Toshiba eked out a small profit in the July-September quarter on cost-cutting and higher sales of memory chips. The electronics company reported a net profit of 100 million yen (US$1.1 million) for the fiscal second quarter, up from a net loss of 26.9 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.

Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of memory chips and LCD screens, reported on Friday its best ever quarterly net profit on a resurgent memory sector and forecast a strong 2010.

Sony narrowed its full-year loss forecast, as cost reductions more than offset a stronger yen and lower sales of televisions and cameras. The net loss will probably be 95 billion yen (US$1 billion) in the year ending March 31, compared with an earlier projection for a 120 billion yen loss.

The net loss in the 12 months ending March 31, 2010 will probably be 55 billion yen (US$607 million), wider than the 9 billion yen projected earlier, according to NEC Electronics on October 28.

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission in cooperation with Sony have announced a voluntary recall of the Sony VGP-AC19V17 AC adpator which was supplied for use with certain Sony all-in-one desktop computers and docking stations. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately and contact Sony to arrange for a free replacement.

SanDisk has admitted that far not all solid-state drives (SSDs) that are on the market right now are really reliable, which is why many of them are never used inside branded personal computers.