"There's still a general freeze on hiring, but we're seeing a shortage in our research and development department, and will need hundreds of employees there," said PH Chang, VP for human resources at TSMC.

Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing has announced the results of its 27-for-10 rights offering, the subscription period of which ended on April 6, 2009. The rights offering was oversubscribed with applications totaling approximately 144% of the offering size. The rights offering will strengthen its capital position.

Japan's subsidies for home solar panels have attracted far fewer applicants than planned, industry data showed on Wednesday, underscoring the likelihood of bold government steps to promote solar power.

Pioneer and Sharp have announced that they signed a partnership agreement on the establishment of a joint venture in the optical disk business area.

Barnes & Noble, the US's No. 1 bookstore chain, is working with a device maker and Sprint on an Amazon Kindle-like e-book device, according to one wireless industry insider. The news comes a week after the CTIA wireless show, where sources say there was heavy speculation surrounding Barnes & Noble's plan to give e-books another try.

Apple is acknowledging the appearance of hairline cracks along the bottom enclosure of white MacBooks and will repair the defects regardless of warranty.

Japan's Sharp said it would start output at its new 380 billion yen ($3.8 billion) LCD panel plant in western Japan in October.

The Japanese LED maker has developed high-performance 660 nm chips that accelerate plant photosynthesis.

Dai Nippon Printing developed a "light emitting poster" by combining an inorganic EL panel that emits high-luminance white light and organic EL panels that scroll-display text information.

Nokia Siemens Networks, seeking a bigger foothold in the US market, has offered to buy large pieces of Nortel Networks, including much of its profitable carrier networks unit and a research unit developing a next-generation wireless technology, according to people familiar with the matter.

Micron Technology has announced that it intends to offer, subject to market and other considerations, common stock and convertible senior notes for total aggregate gross proceeds of approximately US$450 million. The company said these offerings will be used for general corporate purposes, including working capital, capital expenditures, and potential acquisitions and strategic transactions.

The 10 countries, including China and Thailand, will grow by 5.3% this year, half of the growth seen in 2007, the World Bank said in a report.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Wednesday the upcoming budget will contain environmental measures to aid recovery from recession, including creating thousands of "green" jobs.

Qualcomm is looking at South Korean wireless and healthcare technology firms for possible investment, Chairman and CEO Paul Jacobs told Reuters on Wednesday.

A quarter of the world's companies, and 40% in the US, plan to freeze salaries this year, but employees in South America and India can look forward to robust rises, a global survey shows on Tuesday.

Although solar module makers are trying to get rid of excess inventory, the price of conventional home solar systems remains somewhat unfazed because of other factors, like declining subsidies.