and Matsushita Electric Industrial will become the first Japanese companies to mass produce organic electroluminescent, or OEL, display panels, the Nikkei newspaper reported, without saying where it obtained the information. Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology, 60 percent owned by Toshiba and 40 percent by Matsushita, plans to produce 1 million 2.5 inch (6.3 centimeter) panels per month for use with devices such as mobile phones and car navigation systems beginning in the northern hemisphere's autumn of next year, the report said

The world economy will expand 4.1% this year, faster than the 3.7% pace projected in April, the fund said in a report released in Washington. The IMF raised growth forecasts for six of the Group of Seven industrial nations, with only Canada's economy downgraded. The outlooks for China, Brazil, Russia and India were also lifted.

For the past 10 years, U.S. chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) has been filing complaints with regulators in the U.S., Europe, and Asia alleging that Intel engaged in anticompetitive practices that limit consumer choice. Every time, Intel has responded by painting the charges as nothing more than the gripes of a jealous foe.

Based on its recent analysis of the OLED display market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Samsung SDI with the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Market Leadership of the Year Award.

Japanese LED maker Nichia Corporation has filed a patent infringement lawsuit in Germany against its Korean rival, Seoul Semiconductor Co. Ltd. The lawsuit claims that Seoul's Acriche series white LED product infringes the Nichia patent EP(DE)622858.

Seoul Semiconductor has a confident position to Nichia's assertion regarding to patent infringement because Acriche uses different technology from Nichia’s patent range.

ViewSonic Corp is all set to benefit its partners this month with the announcement of it's channel scheme 'ViewSonic Enlivens 2008'.

An Australian company BluGlass Ltd has developed a cheaper process of making LEDs by almost half. The process reduces polluting materials required in the manufacture of LEDS.

Researchers at Purdue University have overcome a major obstacle in reducing the cost of "solid state lighting," a technology that could cut electricity consumption by 10 percent if widely adopted.

BluGlass, an Australian company that has developed low-cost manufacturing technology for growing GaN-based material for LEDs, has opened its new headquarters and demonstration plant at Silverwater, Sydney.

Solar-powered LED technology provider Carmanah Technologies Corporation has partnered with Encom Wireless Data Solutions Inc. to add a wireless interface capability to its line of stand-alone solar-powered traffic beacons.

...In order to beat their Korean rivals and regain past glory as global leaders in the display segment, leading Japanese display makers recently formed a united front with support from the Japanese government. Sony, Sharp, Toshiba and Panasonic joined forces in the development of technology for the mass production of larger-sized AM OLED panels over 40 inches financed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Matsushita Electric Industrial has informally decided to build a lithium-ion battery plant in Suminoe Ward, Osaka, that will be the largest such plant in the world, it has been learned. The plant will be built at a cost of more than 100 billion yen on a site near Osaka Bay that was formerly occupied by a thermal power station of the Kansai Electric Power. Matsushita Battery Industrial, a Matsushita Electric subsidiary, will commence production at the plant in fiscal 2010 at the earliest, according to sources.

Aquest Systems confirmed Thursday that on July 9 it sent Asyst Technologies an offer to buy the chip manufacturing equipment maker for US$6.50 per share in cash. Privately held Aquest, which is based in Sunnyvale, CA is a developer of automation technologies for the semiconductor industry.

AMD has announced that its board of directors elected president and COO Dirk Meyer as the company's CEO. Meyer succeeds Hector Ruiz, who will become executive chairman of AMD and chair of the board of directors.

Numbers concerning counterfeiting vary from source to source, as do the suggested ways to defend the electronics supply chain against these fake components. In late 2007, the US Patent and Trademark Office estimated that counterfeiting and piracy drain about US$250 billion out of the US economy each year along with some 750,000 jobs...