The global semiconductor industry is likely to have hit its bottom in the fourth quarter of last year, the chief executive of South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor said Thursday.

Hynix is gratified that the court rejected Rambus' request for an injunction, but is disappointed by the district court's damages ruling and will file an appeal when the final judgment is entered. Hynix believes that Rambus's patents, as has been recently confirmed by certain rulings of the US Patent & Trademark Office, are invalid. In addition, Hynix maintains that Rambus' conduct in destroying evidence relevant to the litigation between Hynix and Rambus, and Rambus and the rest of the DRAM industry, bars Rambus from enforcing its patents.

The ThinkEquity Partners' report centered on SanDisk, which is not one of the four companies Apple actually buys its memory components from (Samsung, Hynix, Toshiba and Micron). However, the report says Apple's voracious appetite for flash RAM is affecting the entire market.

Rambus's case against Micron may be headed for dismissal if comments by federal judge Ronald Whyte are any indication. According to Whyte, a Delaware court's decision earlier this January to throw out Rambus' claims based on spoliation leave him no room for discretion.

South Korea denied a report it would offer for sale stakes in chipmaker Hynix Semiconductor and 17 other companies via international auction, but confirmed plans to attract investment into state-run assets. The Asia's fourth-largest economy posted its second-biggest contraction on record in the last quarter of 2008.

The creditors of Hynix Semiconductor yesterday said they aimed to sell their 36% controlling stake in the world's second-largest maker of memory chips by the end of September.

Hynix Semiconductor said on Monday it believed the fourth quarter of 2008 was the bottom in the ongoing memory chip downturn, and that it was open to further financing. "Although we do not expect any rapid recovery, we are cautiously hopeful that the fourth quarter [of 2008] may have represented a bottom in the downturn," Hynix CEO Kim Jong-kap said during a news conference.

Hynix Semiconductor, the world's No. 2 maker of computer memory chips, is set to raise $249 million in a new share issue this month under a shareholder-led support package, an executive said on Tuesday.

Hynix Semiconductor said on Wednesday it would cut planned spending on a South Korean plant and delay a $260 million investment in its Chinese joint venture as it tries to deal with a cash shortage amid a downturn. Hynix shares slid 12.7% to end at 6,720 won before the announcement, compared with the wider market's 1.4% loss.

hareholders led by Korea Exchange Bank said in a statement they would extend 500 billion won ($374 million) in new loans to Hynix in early January and roll over all of its maturing debt by the end of 2009.

Shares of Micron Technology are on the move today, rising 25%, on word rival Hynix Semiconductor will cut memory chip production by 20%-30% at the end of this month due to weak prices and demand.

"We are taking advantage of the company-wide vacation period starting in late December to achieve the cuts," a Hynix spokeswoman told Reuters. "We will reevaluate our decision early next year depending on the market situation."

Shares in South Korea-based Hynix, which trails home rival Samsung Electronics, rose 6.73% to 7,450 won after gaining more than 7%, far outpacing the wider market's KS11 0.93% rise.

Leading shareholders of Hynix Semiconductor denied on Friday market talk the firm's capital could be reduced, boosting its shares, although persisting concerns over the sector outlook limited gains.

Kim Jong-kap, CEO of the world's No. 2 memory chip maker, told the evening newspaper, Munhwa Ilbo, that the global semiconductor industry would face a big change such as a closure of a rival chipmaker by the first quarter of 2009.

Shares in Hynix Semiconductor rose sharply on Wednesday on expectations of an imminent US$560 million in funding from shareholders, which analysts said would help keep the chip maker afloat for a while.

Yesterday Lee Youn-ho, South Korea's minister of knowledge and economy, said that creditors had almost agreed on support measures for the world's second largest chipmaker. "At the moment, the government is not considering direct support [for Hynix] because shareholders have agreed on providing liquidity to some extent," Mr Lee told foreign correspondents. "But if creditors can't help out Hynix, then the government may look into it."

Hynix Semiconductor has sought 1 trillion won ($691 million) in financial support from its creditors as it faces a liquidity crunch and struggles as chip prices are falling, reports say.

"The electronics group Hynix was already rescued once by the South Korean state bank and now has emerged as interested in Qimonda." Asked about the comment, a Hynix spokeswoman in South Korea denied any interest in Infineon or Qimonda assets.

The world's second-biggest maker of memory chips will eliminate 30 percent of its executives and cut labor costs by more than 15 percent because of the global economic slowdown.

Hynix Semiconductor is facing a cash crisis as losses deepened to over 1.4 trillion won in 2008. The Korean Government support via Korean banks mirrors the potential intervention of the Taiwan Government in facilitating further credit instruments for Taiwan’s struggling DRAM manufacturers.

Hynix Semiconductor said on Tuesday it would delay the planned sale of a stake in its Chinese joint venture to partner Numonyx by one year. South Korea-based Hynix had planned to sell a stake worth US$100 million to Numonyx as the latter sought to boost its control over the Chinese chip plant. It already sold half the stake and was supposed to sell the rest by the end of this year.

"We will discuss with our controlling shareholders to decide on a loan if necessary," Park Hyun, a spokesman for Ichon, South Korea-based Hynix, said by telephone Monday. Park said details such as the amount, timing and method haven't been determined.

Rambus shares surged for the second straight day Wednesday after the chip maker received a positive pre-trial ruling in California in its patent case against some of the largest semiconductor companies in the world. According to a court document on Rambus's Web site, on Monday a U.S. District judge issued a summary decision in favor of Rambus, saying the chip makers infringed on certain aspects of Rambus's patents. The chipmakers named in the case are Hynix Semiconductor, Samsung Electronics, Nanya Technology and Micron Technology.

Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second biggest chipmaker behind Samsung Electronics, said it expects prices of computer memory chips to decline by about 30% in 2009, and prices of NAND flash memory chips to fall 40% further from this year. "The slowdown in both personal computer and motherboard sales will weaken the demand for DRAMs, which will hurt prices," a Hynix executive told The Korea Times, Wednesday.

Our plan is to directly take legal action against the Japanese government, said Park Hyun, a Hynix spokesman. Park, however, didn't give the exact timing of the action but added that it wouldn't be this month. Hynix's challenge against Tokyo came following the US' decision not to renew punitive tariffs on its semiconductors. The European Union dropped tariffs on Hynix in April this year.

A 36% stake in Hynix Semiconductor, the world's second biggest dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chipmaker, is going up for sale but there are few bidders on the horizon because of a down market. Samsung Electronics is currently the No. 1 contender.

South Korea's Hynix Semiconductor said on Thursday it would sell part of its stake in a Chinese joint venture plant to partner Numonyx for US$100 million by the end of this year. World No.2 memory chip maker Hynix said in a filing with the Korea Exchange its stake in the Wuxi plant will fall to 76.7% from the current 83.3% after the transaction.