Sony ruled out dumping its television business or dissolving a TV panel partnership with Samsung Electronics Co even as it looks to overhaul its loss-making TV unit.

The Ontario government has negotiated a 75-per-cent cut in its controversial subsidy to a Korean consortium that is building new wind and solar farms in the province.

Samsung Electronics has acquired Grandis, a maker of magnetic random access memory (MRAM) technology known as spin transfer torque (STT-RAM). Samsung said Grandis will be merged into its R&D operations "that are focused on developing the next evolution of memory, where new semiconductor materials and structures are reviewed for their long-term commercial value."

Samsung Electronics CEO Choi Gee-sung said on July 26 that the firm has no plans to revise down its capex for the second half and that its bread-and-butter memory chip business would get additional investment this year.

Samsung Electronics, maker of the Galaxy mobile phone, may have surpassed Nokia and Apple in smartphone sales for the first time on demand for devices that run on Android software, a research company said.

Samsung Electronics has retained its unrivaled leadership in 3D TV both in North America and Europe where TV makers compete fiercely.

The iPhone 4's super-crisp Retina Display will not remain an Apple exclusive, according to LG Display chief executive Kwon Young-soo

Smartphone manufacturer HTC is considering switching to Samsung's mobile application processors, industry sources said. HTC currently uses Qualcomm processors.

LG Display Co., the world's second-largest maker of liquid crystal display (LCD) panels, reported Thursday a third straight quarterly operating loss for the second quarter as consumers held back TV purchases on an uncertain economic outlook.

Japanese consumer electronics giant Sharp Corporation and Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd - more famously known for its subsidiary Foxconn which manufactures some of the world's most popular products including the iPhone and iPad for Apple, as well as the Playstation 3 (PS3) for Sony - have joined forces to cut the costs of LCD TV panel supply. Both parties hope that this alliance will enable them to compete more effectively against South Korean rivals like Samsung and LG.

That Apple is making a follow-up to the iPad 2 is no surprise. That it might be sourcing one of the most important components from a company it's currently involved in a massive legal spat with makes for an interesting story.

Samsung Electronics and LG Display, the world's two largest makers of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), are close to securing big orders from Apple, industry sources said.

Samsung showed off its 2011 monitor lineup and I definitely came away impressed. From movies, to gaming, to professional needs and business, Samsung is swinging a large swath in a very wide arc, but based on my time with its offerings, I can say it is not slipping on quality.

Samsung LED Co Ltd said it had filed a complaint with the US fair trade commission to ban imports of LED products from Siemens' light bulb unit Osram and affiliates Osram Opto Semiconductors and Osram Sylvania Inc.

TSMC has begun trial manufacturing of next generation chips for Apple's mobile devices, according to a source with knowledge of the matter.

Toshiba President Norio Sasaki also said the company is gaining on South Korea's Samsung Electronics in terms of flash memory global market share, though warned that the rivalry could undercut prices.

LG is seeking to prevent the importation of Osram LED products into Korea, while the ITC has agreed to investigate Osram's complaints against both LG and Samsung. Meanwhile, Nichia has filed a lawsuit against a DIY retailer in Germany.

The news comes just weeks after Apple and Samsung accused each other of copying designs and technology.

South Korean consumer electronics giant LG Electronics has slashed its forecast for 2011 smartphone sales as the company struggles to compete against aggressive giants like HTC, Samsung and Apple.

Korean companies and developers are now able to directly develop or invest in overseas mines for indium and lithium, two rare metals that are used to produce display panels and batteries for electric cars, the government said yesterday.

Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday it estimates weaker second-quarter earnings, as its liquid crystal display business likely posted its second straight quarterly loss due to slumping demand for televisions and personal computers.

Leading LED lighting manufacturers have announced large price drops for the next-gen tech, meaning we could all be using far less energy in a few years.

Chipmaker Wolfson Microelectronics has lost a quarter of its value after it warned on profits after customers sold fewer products than expected and delayed new launches. The company supplies chips for smartphones and tablets for the likes of Samsung, LG and Research in Motion (but crucially, not Apple).

"In the past, the semiconductor market tended to be weaker in the first half and stronger in the second half, but for this year, it is likely to remain flat throughout the latter half..."

Samsung Electronics Co. said on Friday that it will fold its flat-panel display business back into its semiconductor business, uniting its component manufacturing operations just when the display business appears likely to be unprofitable for some time to come.

TSMC may first appear, in the fourth quarter, as a second-source supplier of the A5 processor, according to Gus Richard, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, who wrote about this in a research note last month and still maintains this outlook. Then TSMC would take on the next-gen A6.

"Common sense suggests that allegations of copying are necessarily directed at Apple's existing products, to which Samsung has access and could potentially mimic," said US District Court Judge Lucy Koh, "and not at Apple's unreleased, inaccessible, next-generation products."

Spansion and Samsung Electronics have agreed to settle all ongoing patent litigation and disputes, including their respective investigations with the US International Trade Commission.

Apple ramped up the rhetoric in its patent infringement battle with Samsung on Thursday, filing an amended complaint that includes more allegedly infringing devices and stronger accusations that the company copied the look and feel of its iPhone and iPad.