Worldwide, the rate of software piracy rose from 38% to 41%, because of the increase of Internet users in high-piracy locations such as China and India, the report found. Software piracy within the US, meanwhile, has remained flat.

Blu-ray player sales in the first quarter of 2009 jumped 72 percent over sales in the first quarter of 2008, according to market research firm NPD Group.

China's exports in April were down 22.6% from a year ago, the sixth successive month of decline. But other data released on Tuesday suggest that Chinese government efforts to stimulate the economy are pushing up investment levels in the country.

The world's largest maker of solar cells reported a net profit of 19.8 million euros (US$27.0 million) for the first quarter of 2009, better than expected. But it slashed its 2009 sales outlook for the third time since December.

China's contract chipmakers, battered by a sharp downturn in demand for semiconductors, will survive the recession and become increasingly competitive over time, according to an Accenture executive.

China's consumer prices fell by 1.5% in the year to April, figures show, the third consecutive month of declines.

MIPS Technologies on May 8 announced Synopsys has acquired its Analog Business Group in an all-cash transaction for US$22 million.

CHIA Song Hwee's upbeat tone when he spoke to BT after Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing's first-quarter results announcement might seem discordant at other times.

The Torqx SSD line is one of Patriot's latest releases designed with Patriot's new cutting-edge technology that adds 64MB of DRAM cache in conjunction with its current equipped NAND technology.

US telecommunications giant AT&T confirmed that it is acquiring some assets of arc rival Verizon Wireless as part of the regulatory approvals granted to the latter for its purchase of Alltel Wireless.

US unemployment climbed to 8.9% in April, its highest level in a quarter of a century, as the economy shed more than half a million jobs, official figures have showed.