The technology leader in high definition products and the world's no. 2 manufacturer of NAND flash memory chips, Toshiba Corp., plans to outsource a part of the production of its next-generation 28-nanometer (nm) system chips.

According to industry sources, the chips will be used in a wide range of electronics such as game consoles, digital cameras, flat panel TVs and other electronic gadgets starting in April 2010. To meet demand by that period, Toshiba will have to ramp up production. Its customers include IT giants like Apple (AAPL), which has already purchased $500 million worth flash memory chips from Toshiba.

Toshiba currently manufactures chips at its plant in Oita, southern Japan and plans to outsource to expand its production if capacity is insufficient.

According to sources, Toshiba is holding discussion with Singapore’s Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. (CHRT) and Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to spin off Globalfoundries

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In order to meet the growing global demand for accessing digital terrestrial television services, STMicroelectronics NV (STM) recently introduced a single-chip DVB-T silicon tuner that enables manufacturers to simplify product assembly and supply-chain management.

As consumers switch from analog to digital television broadcasting, the demand for digital set-top boxes and integrated digital televisions (iDTVs) is on the rise. This transition has already taken place in nine countries, including the USA, parts of Europe and Scandinavia, and is underway in other nations.

With its STV4100, the company offers complete chipsets for digital-terrestrial receivers, including the tuner and a choice of demodulators, MPEG decoders and combined demodulator/decoder ICs.

Silicon tuners are replacing those supplied by third-party providers, which combine multiple discrete components in a metal enclosure and must be individually adjusted for optimum performance. STMicroelectronics’ new device saves up to 30 separate components, has a compact QFN 5 x 5mm

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Cymer delivers EUV light source, first tool from ASML Holding in 2010   After several years of development, Cymer Inc. (CYMI) shipped the first fully integrated laser-produced plasma (LPP) Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lithography source to ASML Holdings NV (ASML). This is a major breakthrough in semiconductor design tools, with wide implications for semiconductor manufacturing over the next decade.   UV light is basically electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength shorter than that of visible light and longer than that of x-rays. These light sources are of particular importance in excimer lasers used for semiconductor manufacturing, where light passes through a photomask to imprint patterns therein onto a photoresist-coated silicon wafer.   An LPP EUV light source currently produces light at 13.5nm wavelength, which is 15x shorter than existing technologies. In an LPP EUV source, microscopic droplets of molten tin are fired through a vacuum chamber and individually tracked ...

Infineon Technologies (IFNNY) has planned a rights issue of 337 million shares with a subscription price of €2.15 per share, which represents a discount of 42% on current market price. Existing shareholders will have the option to buy four new shares for every nine existing shares held by them, including holders of ADSs. The subscription will open within two weeks’ time.    The issue targets an amount of €725 million ($1.01 billion under currently prevailing exchange rates). Infineon intends to repay previously issued convertible bonds and exchangeable bonds carrying nominal values of €522 million and €48 million respectively.

Once this is achieved, the capital structure will change drastically and favorably alter its gearing. The firm’s liquidity position will also improve. The present issue is necessitated due to fast depleting cash resources as a result of financing its loss making subsidiary Qimonda as well as high level of debt at

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