Essential is planning its international foray with launches in the UK, western Europe and Japan, although it has yet to launch its minimalist $699 handset in the US.

Western Digital won a temporary US court order on Tuesday saying that Toshiba must allow Western Digital's employees to access databases and chip samples as part of a joint venture with Toshiba around flash memory chip plants in Japan.

Japanese financial company ORIX has recently joined SK hynix to acquire Toshiba's chip business possibly as part of the Korean chipmaker's efforts to soothe negative sentiments in Japan, the Korea Economic Daily reported on June 2.

Western Digital is considering fresh investment to build another flash memory chip plant in western Japan in an effort to show its commitment to the country, a source familiar with the matter said.

GlobalFoundries, the world's second largest contract chipmaker, aims to double its revenue from Japan over the next few years by launching cheaper chips for newer uses that will help it claw market share from a dominant Taiwanese rival, a senior executive said.

Micron will install 13-nanometer production equipment at the Hiroshima Prefecture facility.

In 2016, NXP in the Netherlands overtook Renesas Electronics in Japan as the world's largest microcontroller supplier with MCU revenues climbing 116% following its US$11.6 billion purchase of US-based Freescale Semiconductor in December 2015.

Japan's Nikon on Monday said it has initiated legal action against ASML and Carl Zeiss, saying the Dutch and Germany companies used its lithography technology without its permission.

A recent report out of Japan says three of tech's biggest and most prominent companies are interested in bidding on Toshiba's memory chip business. Can this be true?

A Japanese public-private consortium is being assembled to bid for a stake in Toshiba's newly spun-off memory unit in hopes of heading off potential outflows of technology and talent from the country, it was learned Friday.

The Japanese government said it was not considering steps to support embattled Toshiba and will share information with Washington on developments involving the firm and its US nuclear unit Westinghouse.

Japan's crisis-racked Toshiba has offered shares in its memory chip unit to creditors as collateral to secure debt refinancing, people briefed on the matter said on Wednesday.

The Japanese government, fretting over the future of Toshiba's flagship memory chips unit, is prepared to block a sale to bidders it deems a risk to national security, sources said, a stance that gives US suitors a major advantage.

After a day of delays and confusion, Japan's Toshiba said on Tuesday it expected to book a $6.3 billion hit to its US nuclear unit, a writedown that wipes out its shareholder equity and will drag the group to a full-year loss.

Apple finally broke 60% share threshold in Japan smartphone market during Q4 2016, posting yet another record market share in this country, mostly driven by the robust sales of the new flagships iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus.

Samsung Electronics is discussing a supply deal with Japan's Murata Manufacturing for batteries for its next-generation smartphone.

Last week, Toshiba confirmed that it's looking to spin off its core semiconductor business. Toshiba's chip division includes its lucrative NAND memory business, which generated 15% of the group's JPY5.7 trillion annual revenue (about $50 billion), and has an estimated value of about JPY1.5 trillion (about $13 billion).

The sell-off of Toshiba shares continues following news that the Japanese electronics maker could write down US nuclear assets by several billion dollars - a strong blow the company's fragile finances could have difficulty handling, investors fear.

Japanese have been reluctant to split up their industrial empires, as the Sharp case shows, but if Tai can navigate the choppy waters of bruised egos and fiscal prudence to bring this turnaround to fruition then there's hope for the rest of the country. If Tai and Gou can't pull it off, there have to be doubts that anyone can.

Canon Tokki, surrounded by rice fields in the city of Mitsuke in Niigata prefecture, has a near monopoly on the machines capable of making screens with organic light-emitting diodes, which enable sharp, vibrant displays that use less energy.

Apple has held talks to invest up to $1 billion in a new $100 billion tech fund being set up by Japan's SoftBank Group, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday.

Japan Display Inc is in advanced talks to receive a bailout amount of about 75 billion yen ($704.49 million) from Innovation Network Corp of Japan (INCJ), a government-backed fund and the display maker's largest shareholder, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

A 6.9 magnitude earthquake struck Iwaki City, in Japan's Fukushima prefecture, early Tuesday morning.

Nikon plans to eliminate about 1,000 jobs in Japan, or 10% of its domestic workforce, as the company shifts resources away from once core businesses to medical devices and other growth areas.

Sony and Panasonic, the Japanese electronics makers, have warned that profits would be hit by lower export income owing to the stronger yen and the retreat from lossmaking businesses.

Japan's Sharp will become the main supplier of LCD panels to Universal Media, the Slovak manufacturer licensed to sell Sharp-brand televisions in Europe, The Nikkei learned Thursday.

Tokyo Electron and Disco appear to have logged record sales in China in the six months through September.

Sony is revising its business continuity plan to speed the recovery of factories after a disaster, applying lessons from the company's experience following an earthquake in southern Japan.

Japan's Toshiba expects to post a bigger first-half profit than it previously forecast, boosted by rising flash memory chip prices and strong chip demand from Chinese smartphone manufacturers.

Japan's industry minister said the government would consider divesting its stake in a money-losing maker of smartphone displays unless the company can demonstrate it is more than just a commodity supplier to Apple.

Japan's government has warned that Brexit could result in the country's firms moving their European head offices out of Britain.

Japan's Renesas Electronics is in the final stages of negotiations to acquire US chipmaker Intersil for as much as JPY300 billion ($2.99 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Monday.

Sony plans to raise some JPY100 billion (US$982 million) by issuing bonds to institutional investors, perhaps in September. The Japanese corporate icon wants to be ready to pounce on future acquisitions and make other growth investments.

Japan's TDK has offered ??8.65 million (about $55 million) to buy Tronics Microsystems the listed MEMS manufacturer.

Japan's cabinet has approved an economic stimulus package worth more than JPY28 trillion (US$275bn).

Shares surged on Thursday after the Japanese electronics manufacturer reported better than expected first quarter profits - albeit it a reading which showed a 70 per cent slide year-on-year.

Gamers in Japan, home of Nintendo's Pokemon, are still impatiently awaiting the launch of the smash-hit Pokemon GO game but the government is already preparing for an invasion of little cartoon monsters, issuing a safety warning.

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

ARM founder Hermann Hauser said the result of the Softbank deal meant the "determination of what comes next for technology will not be decided in Britain any more, but in Japan".