Lam Research and KLA-Tencor called off a planned $10.6 billion merger announced nearly a year ago, citing opposition by the Justice Department on antitrust grounds.

Although based in Japan, Softbank is very much a Chinese company.

Microchip Technology has announced the receipt of antitrust clearance in US and Germany for its acquisition of Atmel

Qualcomm has asked a US federal court to compel some of its biggest customers and competitors-including Apple and Samsung Electronics-to hand over any documents they provided to South Korean antitrust authorities investigating the US chipmaker.

European antitrust regulators cleared on Monday Avago Technologies planned US$37 billion takeover of rival chipmaker Broadcom without conditions.

Qualcomm faces new antitrust charges in South Korea that focus on a foundation of the chipmaker's lucrative patent-licensing business.

The European Commission (EC), the administrative and executive body of the 28-nation European Union (EU), has opened two antitrust investigations into the behavior of Qualcomm with regard to its market dominance of semiconductors used in consumer electronics.

Qualcomm's second-quarter profit dropped 46%, mainly because of a large fine the company had to pay in China for settling antitrust issues. The company also cut its revenue outlook for 2015, citing loss of business for its Snapdragon processor from key customer Samsung Electronics and a concentration of the premium market around two players - Apple and Samsung, among other factors.

The fine is the largest in China's corporate history and will require the firm to lower royalty rates on patents used in China's mobile phone market.

Four Silicon Valley companies including Apple and Google have agreed to a new settlement that would resolve an antitrust class action lawsuit by tech workers, who accused the firms of conspiring to avoid poaching each other's employees.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's anti-monopoly regulator which launched a probe of Qualcomm 13 months ago, said the case would be settled lawfully.

In a ruling issued Thursday, the European Union's General Court rejected Intel's appeal of a EUR1.06 billion (US$1.44 billion) penalty for antitrust violations. Instead, the EU General Court upheld the record-breaking penalty against the US computer chip giant, which had been issued in 2009 by the EU Commission.

Qualcomm may be hit with a record fine exceeding US$1 billion in a Chinese antitrust probe, raising the specter of harsh penalties for foreign firms facing an increasingly aggressive regulator.

Rambus and Micron Technology have signed a broad patent cross-license agreement, giving Micron the right to use any Rambus patent for the manufacture of specified integrated circuit products, including memories.

Qualcomm said the probe involved China's anti-monopoly law, but added that regulators told it the "substance of the investigation is confidential."

A former executive with AU Optronics was sentenced Monday to serve two years in prison and pay a US$50,000 fine for participating in a worldwide LCD screen price-fixing conspiracy, the US Department of Justice said.

US authorities are seeking a U$1 billion fine for AU Optronics, a Taiwanese company convicted earlier this year of conspiring to fix prices, in what would be the largest ever penalty levied against a company for antitrust offences.

Hynix Semiconductor said Thursday a US court has ruled in its favor in an antitrust claim filed by Rambus against the South Korean chipmaker.

SK Telecom won the antitrust regulator's approval to acquire a 21% stake in Hynix Semiconductor, bringing South Korea's biggest mobile-phone carrier one step closer to completing the transaction.

The South Korea Fair Trade Commission on Sunday said it fined six Asian makers of LCD a total of 194 billion won (US$175.7 million) for participating in a price-fixing cartel for more than five years. The six are Samsung Electronics, LG Display (LGD), AU Optronics (AUO), Chimei Innolux (CMI), Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and HannStar Display.

Samsung Electronics was spared from fines for fixing the price of LCD screens, officials from the nation's top antitrust watchdog said. But its rival LG Display is under investigation and may face a heavy fine.