ARM sounded a note of caution about electronic goods sales this Christmas, even as it announced a better-than-expected second quarter in which its technology, already dominant in smartphones and tablets, was licensed for more and more uses.

Please respect FT.com's ts&cs and copyright policy which allow you to: share links; copy content for personal use; & redistribute limited extracts. Email ftsales.support@ft.com to buy additional rights or use this link to reference the article - http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/24c99176-b81a-11e0-8d23-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1TmqNu1c7 CSR has warned of "increasing economic uncertainty and weakness in some areas of the handset market" as it reported a slide in revenues for the first half of 2011.

Solar investors should brace themselves for some downright dreadful second-quarter earnings reports in the coming weeks, though the rest of the year may provide some relief to battered solar stocks as panel prices stabilize and profit margins recover.

Despite the first-half slump in PV installations and significant inventory build across the PV supply chain, leading polysilicon producer Hemlock Semiconductor would seem to be riding its 50th year in business in style, as Dow Corning management noted that the polysilicon JV arm had remained ?嚙編old-out' in the first half of the year and the situation would remain the same for sometime.

Japanese thin-film manufacturer Solar Frontier has announced today that it's new 900 megawatt (MW) CIS thin-film factory has reached full commercial operation, with all production lines open. At full capacity and in combination with the two existing plants, the new facility brings Solar Frontier's annual capacity to around one gigawatt (GW).

China's strategic development of new energy resources over the next five years will focus on four sectors -- nuclear, wind, solar and biomass power, the official Shanghai Securities News reported on Monday, citing unidentified officials.

Texas Instruments (TI) has shipped more than 30 million units of its PowerStack packaging technology, which significantly boosts performance, lowers power and improves chip densities in power management devices.

Expected problems in the automotive supply chain failed to materialize for Infineon Technologies in the second quarter and helped the German chip maker turn in higher than expected sales and profits in its third fiscal quarter ended June 30.

Orders have stalled over the past couple of weeks as semiconductor companies pull back on expansion plans, according to KLA-Tencor. Orders in the fiscal first quarter, which ends in September, will fall as much as 45% from the prior quarter.

Fuji Electric has announced that it will spend JPY18.5 billion (US$240 million) to build an assembly line for power semiconductors at its Yamanashi Prefecture plant. The line will process 8-inch silicon wafers to make the semiconductors.

"We are seeing significant near term declines in wafer fab equipment spending, and as result our September quarter shipments, revenues and earnings per share will be well below our June quarter results," Lam Research CEO Steve Newberry said.

Toshiba has said that operating profits for the fiscal quarter fell 88% as the earthquake hit its power operations and a strong yen bit into earnings, and it kept its annual forecast in line with expectations.

In another sign of trouble in the PV capital equipment sector, Veeco has decided to exit the CIGS solar systems business. Announced as part of the company's second-quarter financials, the move results in a combined negative impact and backlog removal of approximately $71 million on its Q2 GAAP results.

China's LED industry has seen significant development after the initiation of the National Semiconductor Illuminating Project in 2003, says Beijing-based CCID Consulting Co Ltd.

Solar panels integrated on LED area-light poles feed power onto the grid during daytime peak electrical usage to compound the energy savings of SSL technology.

New SSL street-light projects in Boston, MA and Weston, FL utilize Philips Hadco and Roadway luminaires, and Philips SpeedStar luminaires serve in a UK pilot.

LED lighting technology pioneer Dialight hoisted first half revenues by 12% - then predicted it can exceed expectations for the full year.

Q-Cells SE, once the world's largest solar cell maker, said it's spending 17 million euros ($25 million) to expand output of higher-priced modules as a way to diversify away from its main products.

In what may come as a surprise to some, BP Solar has revealed its intention to apply the brakes to its distribution network and module expertise in order to concentrate on project development. In a statement sent to its partners, the company explained that it had made the strategic decision in order to profitably grow over the long term.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., a vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) products, today announced that its PV Module Lab located in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China, has officially taken part in Intertek Group's Satellite Program.

Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) said its second-quarter shipments will beat its earlier expectations, but gross margins are expected at the lower end of its guidance.

The prices of solar panels are falling fast, and that's putting enormous pressure on manufacturers to cut costs and improve the amount of power solar cells can convert from sunlight.

STMicroelectronics fell the most in a decade in Paris trading after CEO Carlo Bozotti said there will be a "correction" in sales and gross margin in the third quarter because of difficulties at customer Nokia.

Patent licensing company Rambus made a net loss of US$10.6 million on revenues of US$66.2 million in the second quarter of 2011. However, the company guided that it would be profitable in the third quarter on rising revenues.

Samsung Electronics CEO Choi Gee-sung said on July 26 that the firm has no plans to revise down its capex for the second half and that its bread-and-butter memory chip business would get additional investment this year.

DuPont announced on Monday that it has bought Innovalight, a Silicon Valley startup that makes silicon ink that solar-cell makers can use to improve the amount of electricity that the cells can squeeze out of sunlight. DuPont declined to disclose the purchase price.

The next generation of solar cells may be printed on ordinary paper.

Texas Instruments sounded a warning for the holiday season as it reported lacklustre activity from manufacturers in computing and consumer electronics, including TVs and gaming machines.

"Skyworks exceeded all key metrics last quarter and we see a steep growth trajectory heading into the second half of calendar 2011," said David J. Aldrich, president and CEO of Skyworks.

Korea Exchange Bank said in a statement that STX and SK Telecom, which both submitted their initial interest in a combined 15% stake, began six weeks of due diligence from Monday.

GE Lighting announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Lightech, a privately held, advanced lighting technology leader based near Tel Aviv, Israel, with commercial teams in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

Korean-based LG Innotek, a vertically-integrated manufacturer of LEDs for displays and lighting, claims it has built the single-largest LED production complex in the world in Paju, Korea. The manufacturing facility performs all aspects of LED production, from epitaxial wafer growth to LED module production.

First Solar Inc. has announced the sale of its 9.9 megawatt solar plant near Zamora, Spain to European Solar Power Fund, a renewable energy-focused fund for institutional investors managed by KGAL.

Ten years to the day that Q-Cells manufactured its first solar cell, the company has revealed that it is independently launching production of its Q.Peak high-performance module at its Solar Valley Thalheim headquarters.

SunPower has updated its expected fiscal second-quarter financial results, joining a growing number of PV manufacturers adjusting to weaker-than-expected demand in the second quarter of 2011.