The IC industry is recovering, but there are also signs of growing chip inventories in the channels. VLSI Research said IC inventories reached US$24.38 billion worldwide in February, a 46% increase from the same month in 2009.

Avago Technologies has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Texas against STMicroelectronics, alleging that certain STMicroelectronics products infringe four of Avago's patents covering optical navigation technology.

Hynix Semiconductor plans to reduce its debt by one trillion won (US$870m) in 2010 due to forecasts for record sales and supply shortages in the global semiconductor industry.

Avnet announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Bell Microproducts, which mainly distributes storage products, in an all cash merger for US$7 per share.

Sony said on Wednesday it would sell a small and mid-size TFT liquid crystal display facility to Kyocera in June, in a bid to improve the efficiency of its LCD business.

Several scholars, rights activists and journalists working on China and Taiwan issues have reported that their Yahoo e-mail accounts have been hacked into, in the latest internet incident involving China since Google's decision to stop censoring its Chinese site.

Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. (SMIC) has been talking to Texas Instruments (TI) about taking over operation of the government-owned factory, according to company sources. It was not immediately clear whether TI was interested in only taking over management of the facility, or in buying it as well.

Elpida CTO said the company is looking to use its 3D TSV technology to expand beyond its DRAM business and supply system solutions developed by stacking memory with RF, sensor or logic devices that would come from partner companies.

Europe and North Africa could be powered solely by renewable electricity by 2050 through the implementation of a SuperSmart Grid, according to a report issued this week by global advisory firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Nokia has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Novarra, a web browsing company based in Chicago. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2010 and following the acquisition, Novarra will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nokia.

Applied Materials has a balance sheet that can support additional acquisitions, some potentially larger than its US$364 million purchase of Semitool last year, CEO Mike Splinter said in an interview ahead of the company's annual meeting with analysts Tuesday.

Hynix Semiconductor has appointed Oh Chul Kwon as the new CEO of the company.

Taiwan and China will hold the second round of talks on a broad cross-strait trade agreement in Taipei on March 31 and April 1, to discuss which sectors will be among the first to enjoy favorable tax terms under the planned pact, according to Taiwan's semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation.

Hynix Semiconductor is targeting record revenues in 2010, driven by tight memory chip supply conditions, according to OC Kwon, who took over as Hynix's chief executive on Monday.

Ford Motor has signed a US$1.8 billion deal to sell its Volvo brand to Geely in a move seen as emblematic of the shift in the global car industry's centre of gravity from the US and western Europe to China.