"We booked one billion euro worth of orders in the first quarter of 2010 and expect a similar level of bookings in the second quarter," said ASML CEO Eric Meurice.

Pinto is the first CTO to actually relocate to China, which in itself is a watershed event, but also shows how important China is to Applied Materials and the changing landscape of technology investing.

Applied Materials has opened its new Singapore Operations Center, Applied's first facility in Asia for manufacturing its advanced semiconductor equipment.

German chipmaker Infineon expects to raise its outlook for the fiscal year to Sept. 30 due to better-than-expected second-quarter results.

Elpida Memory has filed a lawsuit in the US against Infineon Technologies and Best Buy, in response to a complaint filed earlier brought against it.

Fujitsu has outsourced production to TSMC and shut three production lines last year to help save 80 billion yen in the two years to March 2011.

Nanda Technologies has raised US$4 million from Capital-E and KfW working alongside existing shareholders. The company said it will use the money to support pre-production evaluations at semiconductor manufacturers.

A company that bought the former Qimonda plant for a bargain price has announced plans to retrofit the 1.36 million-square-foot facility to host data centers.

Beceem Communications is planning to sell up to US$100 million in common shares in an initial public offering. The company said it is seeking a listing on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "BECM."

In the NAND flash rankings for 2009, there is a surprise vendor on the list. According to Web-Feet Research, Samsung Electronics remained the leader in NAND flash in terms of share, followed in order by Toshiba and then SanDisk. SanDisk was ahead of Micron, Hynix and Intel.

Samsung Electronics has estimated first-quarter operating profits at 4.1-4.5 trillion won (US$4 billion), which might top its record of 4.2 trillion won for the third quarter of 2009. Samsung will explain the strong first quarter performance when it releases results at the end of this month.

"If the NDRC tells me I have to move to China or I'll close the China market to you, then I'll consider that," said TSMC chairman and CEO Morris Chang. NDRC refers to the National Development and Reform Commission, China's powerful economic planning agency.

Completing a merger transaction between the former NEC Electronics and Renesas Technology, the newly established Renesas Electronics has commenced business operations.

Toshiba plans to spend 15 billion yen (US$160 million) in 2010 to build a test production line for advanced flash memory chips, according to the Nikkei business daily. The NAND flash memory vendor has already ordered chip-making equipment from ASML to produce microchips with circuitry widths of less than 25 nanometres.

The IC industry is recovering, but there are also signs of growing chip inventories in the channels. VLSI Research said IC inventories reached US$24.38 billion worldwide in February, a 46% increase from the same month in 2009.

Avago Technologies has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against STMicroelectronics, alleging that certain STMicroelectronics products infringe four of Avago's patents covering optical navigation technology.

Hynix Semiconductor plans to reduce its debt by one trillion won (US$870m) in 2010 due to forecasts for record sales and supply shortages in the global semiconductor industry.

Avnet announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bell Microproducts, which mainly distributes storage products, in an all cash merger for US$7 per share.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) has been talking to Texas Instruments (TI) about taking over operation of the government-owned factory, according to company sources. It was not immediately clear whether TI was interested in only taking over management of the facility, or in buying it as well.

Elpida CTO said the company is looking to use its 3D TSV technology to expand beyond its DRAM business and supply system solutions developed by stacking memory with RF, sensor or logic devices that would come from partner companies.

Applied Materials has a balance sheet that can support additional acquisitions, some potentially larger than its US$364 million purchase of Semitool last year, CEO Mike Splinter said in an interview ahead of the company's annual meeting with analysts Tuesday.

Hynix Semiconductor has appointed Oh Chul Kwon as the new CEO of the company.

Hynix Semiconductor is targeting record revenues in 2010, driven by tight memory chip supply conditions, according to OC Kwon, who took over as Hynix's chief executive on Monday.

Smart Modular Technologies has reported a profit for the fiscal second quarter as improved customer demand and higher pricing lifted revenues by nearly half.

NXP, the Dutch chipmaker bought by KKR & Co. four years ago, plans to raise at least US$1 billion to cut debt in a deal that would be this year's largest initial public offering, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

OmniVision Technologies has completed the acquisition of Aurora Systems, which makes components for digital projectors ranging from handheld ones to home theater systems.

China has overtaken the US for the first time in the race to invest in wind, solar and other sources of clean energy.

Qualcomm has updated its financial guidance for the second fiscal quarter ending March 28, 2010. Revenues are estimated at US$2.55-2.65 billion compared to its prior guidance range of US$2.40-2.60 billion. Diluted EPS is now expected to be US$0.56-0.58 compared to its prior guidance range of US$0.49-0.53.

Flextronics has entered into an agreement to produce solar modules for Q-Cells. Flextronics said the deal positions it as the leading EMS player in the clean tech market.

Hwang Chang-gyu, former president of Samsung Electronics, was named to a government committee to oversee national research and development projects, officials said yesterday.

Taiwan's high court has warned the former head of United Microelectronics Corp. he risks being arrested after shouting at the judges and walking out of his trial for illegal investment.

IDC analysts have said the global chip industry will grow in 2010 but offered one of the least optimistic industry revenue forecasts so far this year, saying the global recession remains a problem.