Wireless is set to be the leading growth segment for semiconductor spending among original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in 2013, with expenditures rising by a double-digit margin to support the burgeoning markets for smartphones, tablets and mobile infrastructure gear, according to IHS iSuppli.

Tela Innovations has filed patent infringement complaints against key mobile handset vendors, including LG, HTC, Nokia and Motorola Mobility.

As part of its broader restructuring measures, Fujitsu said it will cut 5,000 jobs, including 3,000 workers in Japan and 2,000 overseas, partly through early retirement offers. Fujitsu currently has about 170,000 workers world-wide.

Fujitsu and Panasonic are in the final stage of talks to go ahead with a merger of their large-scale integrated chip (LSI) operations into a new company, NHK reported Friday.

Some local residents and council representatives showed up December 26 at a meeting to protest against Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s plan to build its first 450mm wafer fab plant at the Central Taiwan Science Park.

Bucking the industry trend and rising three places to No. 3, Qualcomm attributed its 29.6% growth to continued adoption of smartphones and the growth of 3G and LTE technology in emerging regions, such as China and India.

If Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. is planning on building a chip plant in the United States, the only place that would make sense is Malta, New York, an analyst said.

Contract chipmaker Globalfoundries chief executive Ajit Manocha said European governments should do more to encourage chip manufacturers to set-up shop in the region, rather than going to Asia where they receive large subsidies.

Evidence is starting to mount that foundry chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) could be about to follow Globalfoundries in building a wafer fab in up-state New York.

Micron Technology and AgigA Tech, a subsidiary of Cypress Semiconductor, have signed an agreement to collaborate to develop and offer nonvolatile DIMM (NVDIMM) products.

ALi has acquired Abilis, a fabless semiconductor company providing RF modulators, secure media processors and broadcast-to-IP solutions, according to the Taiwan-based set-top box IC firm.

"Solid demand for wireless communications in both packaging and test was the key driver of our business in the third quarter," said Ken Joyce, Amkor's president and CEO. "Lower-than-anticipated supply of 28nm wafers in the early part of the quarter and the overall weakness in the semiconductor market and general economy constrained our growth."

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's (TSMC) share in the 28nm contract chipmaking sector may drop from 80% to 50% next year on fierce competition from Samsung, according to research firm Topology.

Rambus has signed a patent licensing agreement with Fujitsu Semiconductor for an undisclosed sum. Per the terms of the agreement, Fujitsu can use Rambus' patented technology for its integrated circuit products for six years. Rambus, on the other hand, will receive royalty payments based on the shipment of these devices during the contract period.

"Samsung's 2013 semiconductor capex will be conducted in a very conservative way. Opinions are gathering into a significant cut in facility investment next year," a senior official at Samsung was quoted as saying.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (SMIC) has announced the availability of its 1.2-volt low-power embedded EEPROM platform, which is fully compatible with its 0.13-micron low-leakage (LL) process.

The new members added include Jackson Hu, chairman and CEO for NeoEnergy Microelectronics, Qiang Liu, chairman and CEO for Ingenic Semiconductor, and Vincent Tai, co-founder, chairman and CEO for RDA Microelectronics.

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) has announced the appointment of Leo Li, chairman, CEO and president of Spreadtrum Communications, to its board of directors. In his new position, Li will represent Asia-Pacific as the first board director based in China.

Intel's R&D expenditures accounted for 32% of the top-10 spending and about 17% of total R&D expenses at all semiconductor companies worldwide-counting IDMs, fabless suppliers and foundries.

The objective of the agreement is for Fujitsu Semiconductor and J-Devices to build a long-term, mutually beneficial strategic partnership in the semiconductor manufacturing business.

SEMI has announced the introduction of 450 Central (www.semi.org/450), a web-based information service to help the semiconductor industry efficiently transition to 450mm-ready solutions and keep the industry informed of important news and perspectives on 450mm wafer processing.

US private equity firm KKR & Co has approached struggling Japanese chipmaker Renesas Electronics and its shareholders with an offer of investment, people with knowledge of the proposal said Wednesday.

Apple and Qualcomm were rebuffed in separate attempts to invest cash with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. in a bid to secure exclusive access to smartphone chips, people with knowledge of the matter said.

MIPS Technologies, Ingenic Semiconductor and Karbonn Mobiles have jointly announced availability in India of the world's lowest-cost Android 4.1 'Jelly Bean' tablet.

The Nikkei Shimbun, Japan's economic newspaper, reported that Nikon is going to work with Intel to develop the next generation semiconductor manufacturing equipment capable of handling 450mm wafers.

Japan's Fujitsu is in talks to sell its main semiconductor plant to TSMC, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) was the world's largest pure play foundry for MEMS devices in 2011, posting a phenomenal 201% increase in revenue as it gained share from rivals and capitalized on new income streams.

Trusted sources we've spoken to in the semiconductor industry have implied that TSMC is considering a partnership with Apple that would realign the manufacturer's technology roadmap and fundamentally alter the balance of power between the foundry and its other customers.

Semiconductor revenues worldwide will grow 4.6% in 2012 to US$315 billion, according to IDC. Revenues will grow at a CAGR of 4.8% from 2011-2016, reaching $380 billion in 2016.

Future Horizons has said it included the comment "We assume GlobalFoundries will purchase IBM's semiconductor division and that Hynix/Micron will buy up the remaining smaller memory firms," in the conclusions of a report prepared by Future Horizons and Decision SA for the European Commission on the future of 450mm wafer processing in Europe.

The first production semiconductor fabs to use 450mm wafers are projected to commence operation in 2017, according to Christian Dieseldorff, a senior analyst with the fab tool vendor trade group SEMI's industry research and statistics group.

ASML is negotiating with Samsung Electronics and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) over taking up to a 10% stake in the company under its equity-plus-research program.

Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs, girding against a shortage of chips, said he wouldn't rule out owning a manufacturing plant or tapping the company's cash pile to ensure access to needed parts. Qualcomm is weighing different business arrangements with its suppliers and would consider "writing big checks," said Jacobs.

Sony has announced plans to invest in Sony Semiconductor's Nagasaki Technology Center from the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2013 through the first half of the fiscal year ending March 31, 2014, to increase the production capacity for stacked CMOS image sensors.

Spansion announced that Freescale Semiconductor has selected Spansion serial peripheral interface flash memory to provide its new Vybrid automotive and industrial solutions platforms with a simplified, high-bandwidth memory subsystem.

Renesas Electronics said its alliance with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) will help boost market share and operating margin.

Chipmaker Cypress Semiconductor has offered to buy smaller rival Ramtron International for about US$87.6 million in cash, revamping a bid it made last year.

Wieberneit has spent more than twenty years in the consumer and communication semiconductor space, serving in different R&D, CTO and GM positions at Trident Microsystems, Micronas and Infineon Technologies.

Multinational semiconductor companies are no longer able to compete with China's fabless chips vendors in the consumer electronics IC business, according to Vincent Tai, CEO of RDA Microelectronics. "It's game over" for them, Tai asserted in a recent interview.

Freescale Semiconductor shares are trading sharply higher after the company this morning named Greg Lowe as CEO effective immediately. He comes to the company from Texas Instruments, where he was senior VP of the analog business.