Sumco, the world's second-largest maker of silicon wafers, lowered its full-year profit forecast 44%, citing a slump in demand amid a global recession. "While market visibility in December and January is best described as fumbling in complete darkness, we expect the conditions to bottom out in February to March," said company president Kenjiro Shigematsu.

Company bankruptcies in Japan jumped 24.7% in December from a year earlier, as the financial crisis pummelled the world's second-largest economy.

Elpida Memory announced that it has completed the early redemption of the outstanding unsecured convertible bonds (CBs) worth 44 billion yen (US$1.33 billion).

Benchmark indexes in Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea all dropped by about 5% in early trading after the Dow Jones share index in New York fell to its lowest level in five years, amid fears of a protracted global recession.

Our plan is to directly take legal action against the Japanese government, said Park Hyun, a Hynix spokesman. Park, however, didn't give the exact timing of the action but added that it wouldn't be this month. Hynix's challenge against Tokyo came following the US' decision not to renew punitive tariffs on its semiconductors. The European Union dropped tariffs on Hynix in April this year.

The WTO will examine whether Japan is complying with a ruling against its punitive import charge on South Korean computer chips. The WTO has twice ruled against a 27.2% charge Tokyo levies on dynamic random access memory made by South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor. Earlier this year, the WTO gave Japan until Sep 1 to bring the tariff in line with international trade rules. A third ruling against Japan in the dispute could lead to South Korean trade retaliation against Japanese goods or services.

Shipments of Japanese solar cells amounted to 258,900kw of generation capacity for the three months ended June 30, an increase of 36% from a year earlier, according to data released Wednesday by the Japan Photovoltaic Energy Association. Exports soared 45%, while domestic shipments rose 6% – the first uptick in two years. Shipments to Europe remained strong, registering a 43% spike. Several European countries have adopted programs in which solar-generated electricity is sold at high prices so that producers can offset their investments.

Orders for Japanese equipment used to make semiconductors fell 27.8% in July from the same month last year as chip makers reined in spending, calculations based on industry data showed on Tuesday. Orders in July came to 93.90 billion yen (US$856 million), down 0.2% from June, based on monthly order values taken from the industry group's preliminary report.

...In order to beat their Korean rivals and regain past glory as global leaders in the display segment, leading Japanese display makers recently formed a united front with support from the Japanese government. Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and Panasonic joined forces in the development of technology for the mass production of larger-sized AM OLED panels over 40 inches financed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.