"We are seeing significant near term declines in wafer fab equipment spending, and as result our September quarter shipments, revenues and earnings per share will be well below our June quarter results," Lam Research CEO Steve Newberry said.

Toshiba has said that operating profits for the fiscal quarter fell 88% as the earthquake hit its power operations and a strong yen bit into earnings, and it kept its annual forecast in line with expectations.

In another sign of trouble in the PV capital equipment sector, Veeco has decided to exit the CIGS solar systems business. Announced as part of the company's second-quarter financials, the move results in a combined negative impact and backlog removal of approximately $71 million on its Q2 GAAP results.

China's LED industry has seen significant development after the initiation of the National Semiconductor Illuminating Project in 2003, says Beijing-based CCID Consulting Co Ltd.

Panasonic Corp., Sony Corp., and Sharp Corp. all bled red ink for the April-June quarter as a result of the March 11 disaster, according to results released Thursday.

Solar panels integrated on LED area-light poles feed power onto the grid during daytime peak electrical usage to compound the energy savings of SSL technology.

New SSL street-light projects in Boston, MA and Weston, FL utilize Philips Hadco and Roadway luminaires, and Philips SpeedStar luminaires serve in a UK pilot.

3M Co. said Tuesday that its second-quarter profit grew 3.4 percent. That's not bad, but it would have risen more if not for the earthquake in Japan and a big slowdown in its business making coatings for LCD television screens.

Expectations for global TV shipments have been cut by three percent as demand for LCD screens in developed nations drops.

Corning Inc lowered its global forecast for the glass market and warned that manufacturers including Sony Corp and Samsung are cutting their TV sales forecasts as fewer consumers are expected to buy their sets this holiday, sending shares down nearly 7%.

LG Electronics Inc. said Wednesday its second-quarter net profit fell 87% from a year earlier due to sharply lower investment gains from its flat-panel making unit and squeezed operating margins at its home appliance and air-conditioning businesses.

LED lighting technology pioneer Dialight hoisted first half revenues by 12% - then predicted it can exceed expectations for the full year.

Q-Cells SE, once the world's largest solar cell maker, said it's spending 17 million euros ($25 million) to expand output of higher-priced modules as a way to diversify away from its main products.

In what may come as a surprise to some, BP Solar has revealed its intention to apply the brakes to its distribution network and module expertise in order to concentrate on project development. In a statement sent to its partners, the company explained that it had made the strategic decision in order to profitably grow over the long term.

LDK Solar Co., Ltd., a vertically integrated manufacturer of photovoltaic (PV) products, today announced that its PV Module Lab located in Nanchang City, Jiangxi Province, China, has officially taken part in Intertek Group's Satellite Program.

Canadian Solar Inc. (CSIQ) said its second-quarter shipments will beat its earlier expectations, but gross margins are expected at the lower end of its guidance.

The prices of solar panels are falling fast, and that's putting enormous pressure on manufacturers to cut costs and improve the amount of power solar cells can convert from sunlight.

STMicroelectronics fell the most in a decade in Paris trading after CEO Carlo Bozotti said there will be a "correction" in sales and gross margin in the third quarter because of difficulties at customer Nokia.

Patent licensing company Rambus made a net loss of US$10.6 million on revenues of US$66.2 million in the second quarter of 2011. However, the company guided that it would be profitable in the third quarter on rising revenues.

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.

DuPont announced on Monday that it has bought Innovalight, a Silicon Valley startup that makes silicon ink that solar-cell makers can use to improve the amount of electricity that the cells can squeeze out of sunlight. DuPont declined to disclose the purchase price.

The next generation of solar cells may be printed on ordinary paper.

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.

Texas Instruments sounded a warning for the holiday season as it reported lacklustre activity from manufacturers in computing and consumer electronics, including TVs and gaming machines.

"Skyworks exceeded all key metrics last quarter and we see a steep growth trajectory heading into the second half of calendar 2011," said David J. Aldrich, president and CEO of Skyworks.

Korea Exchange Bank said in a statement that STX and SK Telecom, which both submitted their initial interest in a combined 15% stake, began six weeks of due diligence from Monday.

GE Lighting announced it has signed an agreement to acquire Lightech, a privately held, advanced lighting technology leader based near Tel Aviv, Israel, with commercial teams in Europe, the U.S. and Asia.