Desperately seeking new revenue opportunities amid intensifying competition from free alternatives, providers of navigation applications are turning to social networking sites to make their products more appealing to consumers, according to iSuppli.

Taiwan-based WiMAX operator Vmax Telecom plans to invest NT$1.5 billion (US$47 million) to expand its infrastructure in the Taipei metropolitan area in 2010, according to the company. The company's capex reached NT$1 billion in 2009.

Smartphone manufacturers are embracing more powerful hardware capable of handling advanced graphics and video processing, with the transition from ARM11-based processors to ARM Cortex A8 and Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets now seriously under way. However, Nokia appears to be lagging behind the performance curve, Ovum stated.

Chunghwa Picture Tubes (CPT) and Innolux Display saw sequential revenue drops for February of 3.3% and 16.42%, respectively.

Delta Electronics on March 9 won rights to use a 3.5G color filter (CF) production line owned by Allied Material Technology (AMTC) through an open-bid, and plans to use the equipment to produce e-paper products and special CFs used in color e-paper, according to Delta.

Transcend Information has announced that it has received notification from the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin that SanDisk has withdrawn its patent infringement complaint filed on October 2007 against it.

The supply-demand gap of some types of multi-layer ceramic-chip capacitors (MLCCs) and specialty polymer aluminum electrolytic capacitors (SP-Caps) has reached 10%, and the situation will continue into the second quarter due to limited capacities, according to Taiwan-based passive component distributors. The price of passive components remains stable on strong market demand, the sources added.

Network equipment maker Arcadyan Technology expects its 2010 revenues to grow by 30% from NT$11.487 billion (US$360.66 million) it recorded in 2009, company president HY Lee said at its latest investor conference.

Powerchip Semiconductor Corporation (PSC), Taiwan's second-largest DRAM maker in 2009 by revenues, has set a capex goal of NT$10-11 billion (US$315-346 million) for 2010, according to the company. The majority of the planned spending is to upgrade equipment for the company's shift to 45nm process production.

DelSolar, a Taiwan-based maker of crystalline silicon solar cells, on March 9 announced the establishment of a new factory of solar cells and photovoltaic modules with an aggregate annual production capacity of 900MWp (megawatt-peak) during 2010-2012 at total investment of NT$9.26 billion (US$289 million), according to the company.

IC design houses Pixart Imaging and Ralink Technology both saw a slight revenue growth in February, defying seasonal patterns. Pixart posted revenues of NT$336 million (US$10.52 million) last month, up 2% sequentially, while Ralink's February revenues grew 3% on-month to NT$556 million.

Germany-based Heraeus on March 9 announced the establishment of an R&D center in northern Taiwan at an initial investment of NT$60 million (US$1.88 million) to provide materials and technical service for Taiwan-based crystalline silicon solar cell makers and the company plans to set up a factory for PV (photovoltaic) silver paste in Taiwan in 2012, according to the company's PV Business Unit manager Andy London.

Advantech, the largest Taiwan-based industrial PC maker, on March 9 announced the acquisition of DLoG GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Germany-based Augusta Technologie AG, at a price of 12.852 million (US$17.47 million) euros through its subsidiary Advantech Europe Holding B.V., with the sales transaction to be finished by the end of March 2010.

Winbond Electronics is looking to raise prices for NOR flash memory by 5% to reflect tight capacity, while Macronix International Company (MXIC) may also follow suit, according to industry sources. Escalating demand from the PC and consumer electronics sectors has tightened NOR flash supply, and the tight market is expected to extend into the second quarter, indicated the sources.

Micro-Star International (MSI) has unveiled the latest addition of its X-Slim notebook series, the X-Slim X360, with Intel's Core i5 processor and HM55 chipset.

Culminating a neck-and-neck race, Nintendo in 2009 surpassed Samsung to become the world's top purchaser of MEMS used in consumer electronics products and handsets, according to iSuppli.

Despite the prodigious growth of the global large-size LCD market in recent years, panel suppliers are struggling to maintain profitability, forcing them to cut materials and component costs, according to iSuppli.

Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending is projected to surpass US$29.4 billion in 2010, a 76.1% rise from 2009 spending of US$16.7 billion, according to Gartner.

Dell has recently laid off 10% of the 600 employees working at its Taiwan Design Center, according to a Chinese-language

Advanced Analog Technology (AAT) has revised upward its first-quarter guidance on strong demand for TFT LCD products, according to industry sources. The analog IC designer is expected to see its first-quarter revenues top NT$270 million (US$8.45 million), up almost 50% sequentially, compared to 30% growth it projected earlier, said the sources.