Applied Materials said demand for semiconductor and solar-panel manufacturing equipment in Europe is growing rapidly, a sign the region's debt crisis isn't crimping spending.

KLA-Tencor has increased its regular quarterly dividend to US$0.25 a share from US$0.15. "KLA-Tencor's strong cash flows and solid balance sheet provide us the financial flexibility to return significant cash to our shareholders while also providing the capacity to fuel our growth initiatives," said CEO Rick Wallace.

South Korea, Asia's fourth-biggest crude oil importer, is considering expanding the list of alternative-energy equipment eligible for a tax benefit to cut reliance on fossil fuels.

At an analyst briefing at the Semicon West trade show, Applied Materials indicated that it now expects 140% on-year revenue growth for its semiconductor equipment business for the October 2010 fiscal year, an increase from the company's previous forecast of 120% growth.

Engine control units made by Hitachi couldn't be delivered on time to Nissan because ICs needed to make them were not available from a supplier, Hitachi said.

Altera has enhanced its Arria II GX FPGA variant with 6.375Gbps transceivers and up to 1.25Gbps LVDS support, while broadening the reach of the family with the addition of the new Arria II GZ FPGA variant. The company claimed its 40nm Arria II family provides the lowest power 6Gbps transceiver solutions shipping today, featuring up to 50% lower static power over competitive devices.

Novellus Systems posted quarterly results above expectations, helped by a surge in bookings and shipments. The chip-gear maker has reported net profits of US$63.3 million for the second quarter compared with losses of US$50 million a year ago.

The SYA1022 controller offers increased functionality, improved power efficiency and lower production cost in a smaller form factor, ideal for embedding into mobile and handheld devices such as handsets and notebooks. Engineering samples are immediately available with production quantities available in September 2010.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) said in a statement it plans to sell up to 1.5 billion new shares at HK$0.52 each to its largest shareholder, state-owned Datang Telecom Technology & Industry Holdings, whose stake in the chip foundry will rise to up to 19.06%.

Bryan Li, the company's CFO, says Yingli decided to become a World Cup sponsor because of the increasingly competitive market for solar companies. Yingli felt it could "not just compete with our global competition by cost. We also need to compete with them by the brand."

SoloPower claims that its modules boast a 10.5% to 11% efficiency (compared to ECD at somewhere in the 6.5 percent range) and the flexible units can be affixed to the roof with an adhesive or mounted on a lightweight non-penetrating rack.

Germany's upper house of parliament backed reductions in solar-power subsidies of as much as 16 percent after offering the industry an extra three months to adjust to the cuts.

The company has estimated revenues grew 23-25% on quarter in the second quarter of 2010, a positive increase over the guidance previously provided that revenues would be up 10-20% sequentially.

Solar-power industry representatives said the bill passed by the lower house of parliament in Berlin today will increase pressure on companies such as Q-Cells SE and Solarworld AG as they face competition from producers in China.

Retroactively from July 1, subsidies for roof-mounted solar-electricity facilities will be cut by 13% instead of the originally planned 16% cut. Subsides to providers generating solar power on open-field sites--such as agricultural land--will be cut by 12% instead of 15%, while the initial cut for sites that have been converted from former military and industrial use would be 8% instead of 11%.

"However, global economic recovery that started in the second half of 2009 is in danger of slowing down due to macroeconomic problems such as the Euro crisis, continued high unemployment in the US...," said IDC analyst. "In such a scenario, the expected growth in the second half of 2010 may be pushed into early 2011."

British householders who have installed the expensive technology are unable to start generating electricity because of a shortage of "inverters".

Shanghai-based JA Solar announced that it had agreed to supply solar panels to MEMC Electronic Materials.

The Deepwater Horizon disaster should make us look to the sun, and start a revolution in how we meet our energy needs.

Shares of most DRAM makers have underperformed their respective benchmark indexes in Asia so far this year, as European sovereign-debt troubles surfaced and clouded views on global economic growth.

The maker of high-speed memory chips changed its focus during a downturn, from retail to direct sales to device makers and sellers, and the company's shares have soared.

Renesas Electronics and Nokia are deepening their collaboration by forming a strategic business alliance to develop modem technologies for HSPA+/LTE and its evolution, according to Renesas. As part of this alliance, the companies have entered into an agreement whereby Renesas is to acquire Nokia's wireless modem business for US$200 million.

Sanyo Electric has decided to sell its semiconductor business to ON Semiconductor for 20-30 billion yen (US$228-341 million), Kyodo News reported Friday, without citing sources.

Silicon Integrated System (SiS) has adopted Cadence solutions for its PC peripheral and multimedia system on chip (SoC) designs, according to Cadence.

Wind turbine farms are set to expand rapidly across Europe's coastal waters, throwing up challenges and opportunities for industry, according to a Reuters analysis of a leaked draft of EU energy strategies.

China's central government has approved proposals to establish a national-level new-energy demonstration city in Turpan in Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, and the first low-carbon demonstration township in the Jujiapu Financial District of Tianjin.

The Asian Development Bank is leading the establishment of a nonprofit organization to promote the large-scale development of solar energy in Asia.

WebOS tablet is expected to have most of the features and functionality missing from the iPad. A tablet built on a mobile OS, but including USB or SD memory card ports, front and/or rear facing cameras, and compatibility with Adobe Flash content offers business professionals a number of compelling reasons to shun the iPad.

As compared with previous generations, Micron's new RLDRAM 3 memory offers a further increase in density and speed, while minimizing latency and reducing power consumption for higher performing networking applications. Micron expects to begin sampling its RLDRAM 3 device in the first half of 2011.