Panasonic will expand its smartphone business beyond its home country of Japan, starting with Europe in March 2012, the electronics giant said today.

After a marathon all-night session and another day of wrangling at a crucial summit in Brussels, European leaders hammered out a deal they hope will stave off a eurozone collapse and create an anti-crisis framework for the future.

Micron Technology is seeking Taiwanese partners to supply solid-state drive (SSD) controller chips to cope with the company's expansion in NAND memory chips in 2012, an executive said yesterday.

Worldwide semiconductor revenues are forecast to reach US$309 billion in 2012, a 2.2% increase from 2011, according to Gartner. This outlook is down from Gartner's previous projection in the third quarter for 4.6% growth in 2012.

Wacker Chemie said Thursday streamlining at its Siltronic unit will result in a plant closure in Japan and expenses about of EUR70 million. Siltronic is Wacker Chemie's semiconductor division.

Sanyo Semiconductor (Thailand) will close down its factory at Rojana Industrial Park in Ayutthaya after flooding caused extensive damage to its operations.

Chipmakers Texas Instruments and Altera have both cut their forecasts for the fourth quarter.

Sharp Corp. said Thursday it expects to sell more than 1 million large LCD TVs in North America in the business year to March, about five times more than last year as demand surges in the US market.

Shares of LED lighting and chip-maker Cree Inc. fell Thursday after it a Morgan Stanley analyst downgraded the stock, saying investor expectations for fiscal 2013 are too high.

"We expect strong tree sales this year and strong holiday sales overall," said Jean Niemi, a spokeswoman for Atlanta- based Home Depot Inc., the world's largest home-improvement retailer. "History shows us that even in a down economy, the Christmas tradition isn't one that families part with."

Apple's 4S topped the list at all major carriers offering the device in the US, while the Samsung Galaxy S2 took the crown at T-Mobile. The S2 also came in second at Sprint and AT&T, sandwiched in between Apple's 4S and iPhone 4, while the Motorola Droid Razr and HTC Rezound rounded out the top three at Verizon, where the S2 is not sold.

Solar power company SunPower Corp. will cut about 125 jobs, or 2 percent of its workforce, as the company faces a global solar power market where prices and demand are stagnating.

Apple's long-rumoured iOS-packing LCD TV range may be set for a 2012 release according to the latest round of rumours.