The big news at Xilinx' annual analyst day on February 22: A new partner for foundry services at the 28nm node.

Their system-on-a-chip (SoC) platform is based on ARM's Cortex-A9 processor and Globalfoundries' 28nm manufacturing process, and will be used in smartphones, tablets and smartbooks.

"40nm is constrained around the world," according to representatives from Nvidia. "Supply will be constrained for the first half of this year."

The strong start prompted Applied Materials to brighten its outlook for the fiscal 2010. The company expects its sales to increase by more than 50%, up from its previous forecast of a 30% gain.

First Solar has posted a higher-than-expected profit, but its shares fell as its outlook disappointed and profit margins narrowed.

Emily Gin Kilpatrick, director of corporate communications for Qualcomm, issued a statement offering condolences to the man's family, friends and colleagues. She declined to say what position the man held, saying that "we don't provide information about our employees."

Researchers from Toshiba and the Keio University in Tokyo have jointly created a 1TB SSD prototype the size of a small postage stamp, consisting of 128 NAND flash memory chips and one controller chip.

Leading shareholders of Hynix Semiconductor have attracted no bid for the memory chipmaker's controlling stake by the extended deadline and will likely have to unload a large chunk of their US$3.1 billion stake into the market.

Creditors of memory-chip maker Hynix Semiconductor plan to name a new chief executive to replace Kim Jong-Kap, whose three-year term ends in March 2010.

Toshiba will spend 800 billion yen (US$8.9 billion) to build a new microchip plant, reviving plans that it had put on hold amid sluggish sales, according to the Nikkei business daily. It may start construction of the new factory for NAND flash memory chips as early as this summer, aiming to begin operations in spring 2011.

The prototype solar cells demonstrated a power-conversion efficiency of 9.6%, a 40% gain in efficiency from solar cells built by others using the same or similar widely available materials, said David Mitzi, who leads the research team at IBM Research.

Last summer, TSMC made a surprising decision to use a gate-last deposition method for the high-k/metal gate stack of its 28nm transistors. TSMC'S decision to use a replacement metal gate technique was guided by history, said SY Chiang, in charge of R&D at the foundry.

Micron generated revenues of US$4.8 billion in 2009. According to industry estimates, Numonyx generated about US$1.8B in revenues. The combined revenue will make Micron one of the largest memory suppliers in the world.

While analysts are bullish on Micron Technology's acquisition of Numonyx in a US$1.3 billion stock deal, a lack of details on the takeover and a market in decline had investors shying away Wednesday.

"We didn't use any of Samsung Electronics' copper-based processing technology in our memory lines. Hynix is confident we will be cleared of such allegations in court," CEO Kim Jong-kap told The Korea Times.

That's good news for Samsung, but bad news for its memory rivals that use ASML's tools, such as Elpida, Hynix, IM Flash, Micron, Nanya and others. NAND rival Toshiba is said to use scanners from Nikon.

SMIC would announce a new investment by China's Datang Telecom Technology and Industry Holdings Co., which would continue to invest money in the company through 2010, the source said, declining to be more specific.

Hynix Semiconductor has claimed it has developed a NAND flash memory chip using 26nm process technology, designed to hold 64 gigabits of data.

"We continued to see strong MOCVD demand as LED manufacturers ramp production for laptop and TV backlighting as well as general illumination," said Veeco CEO John Peeler.

"Although netbooks are small today - maybe 10% of the PC market at most - we believe over the next several years that could completely change around and that could be 90% of the PC market...," according to company CEO Warren East.

The world's top two DRAM chipmakers have reiterated their bullish stance toward the market for 2010. But Hynix expressed a slight concern regarding oversupply at a time when rivals are ramping up their production.

Sharp's solar business is on track to turn its first annual profit as the company looks to expand production and forge partnerships with corporations worldwide to expand the use of solar power generation.

"I am hearing rumors that Micron maybe buying Numonyx. This deal would only make sense to give Micron a one stop memory source for wireless and all other applications, especially to satisfy Nokia..."

"I think in the next four years or five years, it's probably going to be the case that NAND will no longer be the storage medium," said a flash memory analyst with Forward Insights. "Everybody's looking at alternatives."

Prosecutors have arrested two executives from Applied Materials in Seoul, South Korea on charges of allegedly stealing Samsung process technology details and passing them on to Hynix.

Intel wants to avoid the cyclical, market share game in the NAND flash chip sector against the likes of Samsung, Hynix and Toshiba. But Intel dropped hints it wants to unseat Samsung as the No. 1 player in SSDs.

European Union regulators are to charge ten memory chipmakers, including Samsung Electronics, Infineon and Hynix Semiconductor, with fixing prices in breach of EU antitrust rules.

Toshiba has announced that Toshiba LSI Package Solutions will transfer its memory backend function from Fukuoka to Yokkaichi, Mie prefecture, in order to be closer to Toshiba's main memory production facility, Yokkaichi Operations. The move will take place by November.