Qimonda announced today that it is making progress in its discussions with strategic and financial investors on potential partnerships with Qimonda, and that it will delay the release of its financial results for the fourth quarter of its 2008 financial year and its full financial year ended September 30, 2008 until mid-December while these discussions are proceeding.

The center, jointly formed by Shanghai University and SVA Electron will lay the groundwork for a 2.5G AMOLED production base, which some experts say will attract an investment of about 1.5-2billion yuan.

Japan's Toshiba said it planned to increase its output of flash memory-based solid state drives (SSDs) 15-fold over the next two years, aiming to control half of the global market for the new memory devices.

Stores and online merchants were busier this weekend than they were a year ago, according to figures out Sunday, but signs persist that holiday shopping will suffer in the weakest economic climate in decades.

Gartner analysts have advised CIOs in the Asia Pacific region to plan for future growth. Speaking in the opening keynote presentation at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Sydney, Senior Vice President and Global Head of Research Peter Sondergaard said that an economic downturn can be a perfect time to undertake projects that warrant priority, because of their impact on future growth.

Taiwan stocks rose 0.15 percent on Friday to a more than two-week closing high, as DRAM makers such as Powerchip surged after saying Japanese rival Elpida would boost its stake in their joint venture. DRAM chip makers surged, with Powerchip and Nanya Technology both up by their 7 percent daily limit, helping lift the electronics sub-index by 0.63 percent.

Chip makers are shutting down less-productive factories, delaying investment projects and even cutting staff in a sign that the global economic slowdown and the credit crunch are taking a hefty toll on demand and hurting their operations. The coming few months could be critical for several memory-chip makers in Asia, Europe and the US as they continue to grapple with weak demand and a severe cash crunch amid plunging chip prices, which remain well below their manufacturing costs.

Infineon said on Saturday that Fairchild Semiconductor's patent lawsuit against the German chip maker had been filed in response to a similar case brought by Infineon against its US rival. The two companies are in a legal tussle over so called power chips that regulate electricity supply in computers, sold by Infineon under its CoolMOS and OptiMOS as well as Infineon IGBT and CanPak brands.

German micro-chip maker Infineon (IFXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) plans to step up its recent cost cutting programme and is in talks with shop stewards about shortened working weeks, it said on Saturday. A spokesman for the company confirmed a pre-release of a report in Sunday paper Welt am Sonntag that Infineon was to slash costs beyond the 200 million euro ($258.8 million) programme already announced.

Fab capacity utilisation in Q3 was high for advanced processes and 300mm fabs but overall showed a decline, according to the latest Semiconductor Industry Capacity Statistics (SICAS) report, with the foundry industry experiencing sharp declines in capacity, actual wafer starts and capacity utilisation.

Investors are also expecting a decline in mobile phone demand in 2009. Dow component Intel Corp slid 1.3 percent to $13.80 while Applied Material was off 0.9 percent to $9.64 and National Semiconductor slid 1.8 percent to $11.05.

STMicroelectronics NV, Europe's largest semiconductor maker, said fourth-quarter revenue and gross margin will miss forecasts after a slowdown in demand from the wireless, automotive and computer peripherals industries.

The European Commission on Thursday officially approved an Ericsson-STMicroelectronics joint venture to provide wireless platforms for handsets and semiconductors for mobile communications.

The world's top two contract chip makers, TSMC and UMC, are preparing to cut costs by up to 20 percent as their industry heads into a sharp downturn, industry sources said on Friday. Taking about a two-thirds share of the global foundry market together, the two Taiwan firms are facing a global economic slowdown that has forced consumers to cut spending on new PCs, cellphones and flat-screen TVs that require microchips.

AMD's manufacturing arm which is heading for a spin-off to form a foundry services provider, regards the current downturn as a good anti-cyclical investment opportunity. Nevertheless, the company is aware of the challenges they are approaching, said two top managers of the company. While the Foundry Company will maintain and expand its production capacity in Dresden and later plans to build a new fab in upstate New York, the headquarters will be placed in the Silicon Valley.

The closure of Suvarnabhumi Airport may be the last straw for business sector and foreign investors, who say they will no longer be reluctant to shift investments to other countries. It is said to be damaging the country's image and investment in in tourism and logistics.

The deadly attacks Wednesday in Mumbai, in addition to the human toll, have damaged for now the city's lofty ambitions of becoming an international finance capital rivaling Hong Kong and Singapore.