Applied Materials is benefiting from an increase in demand from companies such as TSMC that build semiconductors for other chipmakers, as they upgrade plants for new production processes.

Dow Chemical, which is looking to exit businesses that are exposed to commodity price swings, said it planned to raise at least US$3 billion to US$4 billion from asset sales.

Applied Materials has announced new technology systems for manufacturing large size and ultra-high definition (UHD) LCD and OLED displays that meet consumer demand for greater screen performance, clarity, color and brightness.

Applied Materials' board of directors has appointed Gary Dickerson as president and chief executive officer (CEO) and Michael Splinter as executive chairman of the board of directors, effective September 1, 2013.

"We are seeing a near-term slowdown in investment by our foundry customers as they focus on ramping (production using) new capacity installed over the past two quarters," said Applied CEO Michael Splinter.

Consumer demand for sophisticated mobile devices creates profitable growth opportunities for Applied's semiconductor and display equipment businesses.

Gold prices have suffered their sharpest fall since the 1980s, heightening fears among investors that the precious metal's decade-long bull run has ended.

Increased spending in NAND and flash by Micron, LEDs by Philips and Osram, and continued investments by Globalfoundries will create new opportunities for equipment and materials suppliers in Southeast Asia.

Gold will probably rally to a record above US$2,000 an ounce in 2013 as central banks ramp up stimulus to sustain the recovery, according to Raymond Key, London-based global head of metals trading at Deutsche Bank.

Applied Materials has forecast fiscal fourth-quarter sales that may fall short of analysts' estimates as some customers rein in expansion plans.

Applied Materials has has signed an enhanced two-year contract with Globalfoundries to service all Applied Materials equipment at its Fab 1 in Dresden, Germany.

The company also revised its calendar year 2012 industry forecast for wafer fab equipment spending to US$30-33 billion, compared to its previous expectation of US$32-35 billion, in line with the market changes.

Applied Materials has advanced the state of the art in etch technology with the launch of the Applied Centura Avatar dielectric etch system. This breakthrough system is designed to solve one of the most demanding challenges in creating the 3D memory architectures that deliver the high-density, terabit storage capability required for tomorrow's data-intensive mobile devices.

Applied Materials investors cheered the appointment of a seasoned executive Wednesday.

The global semiconductor materials market increased 7% in 2011 compared to 2010, with record revenues in 2011 of US$47.86 billion.

Applied Materials and the Institute of Microelectronics (IME), a research institute under the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), have officially opened the Centre of Excellence in Advanced Packaging at Singapore's Science Park II.

Applied Materials reached the highest in more than eight months after predicting higher profit than estimated, signaling that semiconductor makers are pulling out of a spending slump.

Applied Materials has announced its new Applied Producer Optiva CVD system that enables the manufacture of backside-illuminated (BSI) image sensors used in the most advanced smartphones, tablet PCs and high-end cameras.

Applied Materials has forecast first-quarter sales and profit that fell short of analysts' predictions, a sign that semiconductor makers are scaling back expansion plans.

Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) has emerged from among more than 600 competitors across the world, winning two first prizes with Spray IT and i2R e-Paper for the environment category and materials and basic science and technology category.

Applied Materials announced that Toshiba has purchased its SmartSched predictive scheduling software to improve the capacity and efficiency of its photolithography operations. Installation of the first phase of this breakthrough software solution began in August at Toshiba's Fab 4 facility in Yokkaichi, Japan.

Applied Materials CEO Mike Splinter told analysts on a conference call that he is now expecting chipmakers to spend US$1 billion less on new equipment than the company forecast in July. "We've seen demand from our foundry customers soften significantly in the past six weeks," Splitner said.

Completion of the merger is slated for the second half of 2011.

"What foundries are seeing more and more, and what we're seeing overall, is a very tight linkage to consumer demand. All of us are disappointed with demand for PCs this year, and tablets probably will be 20 million units short of what people thought was possible for the year..."

Applied Materials has announced a trio of new systems designed to boost performance in the next generations of DRAM chips. These innovative systems overcome key challenges in fabricating the transistor and contact areas of memory chips.

Analysts say the Pacific discovery could challenge China's dominance, if recovering the minerals from the seabed proves commercially viable. At present, China produces 97% of the world's rare earth metals.

Applied Materials reported a fiscal second-quarter profit that nearly doubled from the year-earlier period, as the company saw stronger sales of semiconductor capital equipment. But shares of the company slipped nearly 2% in after-hours trading after it posted a weaker-than-anticipated outlook.

Applied Materials and Varian Semiconductor Equipment Associates have announced the signing of a definitive merger agreement under which Applied will acquire Varian for US$63 per share in cash. The acquisition will extend Applied's leadership in wafer fabrication equipment with the addition of the technology leader in ion implantation.

Chinese silicon wafer producer Jiangsu Huantai, a joint venture partner of MEMC Electronic Materials, aims to go public in 2012, according to company chairman Wang Lubao. Huantai expects to begin manufacturing LED materials later in 2011.

OCI, the world's second-largest polysilicon maker, said it may sell global depositary receipts to raise funds for expansion.

Hynix CEO OC Kwon said that Hynix had around 45 days of wafer inventory and was reassured by quake-hit Japanese raw materials firms that there wouldn't be any major disruptions in wafer supplies.

Firms across the world fear shortages of parts that used to be made in the Japanese factories now shuttered because of power and water shortages, or because of road and port closures, following the quake and the floods. And carmakers, whose products often contain some 20,000 individual parts, are expected to be among those worst hit.

Micron Technology is trying to secure its supply of crucial silicon wafers following Japan's devastating earthquake and said it was too soon to gauge the disaster's impact on its business.

Hynix Semiconductor will collaborate with engineers in Sematech's 3D Interconnect program at CNSE's Albany NanoTech Complex to address industry infrastructure and technology gaps in materials, equipment, integration and product-related issues for high-volume adoption of through-silicon-vias (TSV).

"Applied's solid first quarter was driven by continued strength in semiconductor systems and record profitability in solar," said Mike Splinter, company chairman and CEO. "We see momentum building in our end markets and expect our company's fiscal year revenue to be more than US$11 billion, exceeding our previous record by over a billion dollars."

Hans Stork joins ON Semiconductor after three years with Applied Materials as Group VP of the Si Systems Group and six years with Texas Instruments as the company's CTO and Senior VP of Si Technology Development.

The price of copper has hit a new all-time high, rounding off a year in which industrial metals rebounded strongly. It peaked at US$9,631.75 per metric tonne on the London Metal Exchange, before falling back slightly.

Gold prices surged above US$1,400 an ounce on December 28 as a weaker dollar pushed investors into the safe haven of precious metals. Gold also seems to be gaining value based on its own track record for 2010, when global economic instability made it the go-to investment for jittery traders.

Copper advanced for a third day from London to Shanghai on optimism the economic recovery in the US remains on track, boosting the demand outlook for the metal amid supply disruptions at the world's third-largest copper mine.