Even if the STMicroelectronics assignment would be large enough to keep the utilization up far enough, it would not suffice to guarantee the company's competitiveness. But, as Buddha said: Every journey begins with the first step.

EDA's industry "big three" held a panel session at DAC on the future of EDA and agreed that this is not "your father's recession."

Hitachi has reported a quarterly loss amid continued weakness in consumer demand for electronic products. Meanwhile, camera and office equipment maker Canon saw second-quarter net profits fall 85% on year, as firms cut back on printers and copiers.

NEC Electronics, Japan's fourth-largest chipmaker, said its first-quarter loss widened as demand for semiconductors used in automobiles, flat-panel televisions and handsets slumped amid a global recession.

German semiconductor maker Infineon Technologies has posted a significantly-narrowed third-quarter net loss on improved wireless sales and manufacturing efficiency, and said it expects sales growth to continue into the fourth quarter.

ASM International saw its net loss for second-quarter 2009 widen to 55.7 million euro (US$78.3 million), from a loss of 9.6 million euro a year ago. The Dutch chip equipment maker recognized an inventory impairment charge of 20.6 million euro in the quarter.

Yahoo and Microsoft have announced a long-rumoured internet search deal that will help the two companies take on chief rival Google.

Globalfoundries has announced a strategic customer relationship with STMicroelectronics.

Toshiba has reported a wider net loss in its fiscal first quarter due to restructuring costs and losses at its chip operations, as the electronics market's uncertain outlook continued to cast a shadow over the firm's earnings.

Q-Cells and MEMC Electronic Materials have formed a joint venture to construct solar photovoltaic (PV) generation facilities, in which each partner will have a 50% share.

The presidents of Taiwan and China exchanged direct messages Monday for the first time since the two sides split 60 years ago — the latest sign of their warming relations.

Chinese stocks in Shanghai fell sharply Wednesday afternoon as investors rushed to take profits, also sending Hong Kong-traded shares of mainland Chinese companies lower. In extremely volatile moves, the Shanghai Composite plunged as much as 7.7% in afternoon trading, before recovering to trade down 5.1%.

Globalfoundries plans to introduce embedded silicon carbon (eSiC) to strain the nFET transistors at the 22 nm node, said John Pellerin, director of technology development.

BTG International has accused several technology giants--including Apple, Dell and Sony--of infringing five patents related to flash memory technology by using chips from Samsung Electronics.