SAMSUNG

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leading mobile and telecommunications equipment provider as well's as well as world's biggest memory chipmaker on Wednesday announced that it had bought an Israel non-memory chip developer, Transchip.

Shares in LG.Philips LCD Co Ltd surged on Friday on market talk Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial was buying a stake in the South Korean flat screen maker, but both firms poured cold water on the talk.

South Korean plasma screen screen maker Samsung SDI said on Tuesday it had swung to a net loss in the third quarter, but forecast better results for the current quarter on surging demand for flat panels.

South Korean display screen maker Samsung SDI Co said on Wednesday it started mass producing ultra thin flat screens and would double capacity by next year, sending its shares surging 14 percent.

South Korean flat-screen maker LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. posted its strongest profit in 13 quarters on Tuesday, helped by tight supplies and growing demand that is expected to keep the sector healthy through 2008.

Wireless chipmaker Broadcom Corp said on Sunday that number-two cell phone maker Samsung Electronics Co Ltd was shipping next-generation handsets that use its chips to cellular operators.

Goldman Sachs and UBS cut their earnings forecasts and share target prices on Samsung Electronics Co Ltd and Hynix Semiconductor Inc, underscoring a weakening outlook for the chip maker sector.

NXP will start shipping its single-chip solution for ultra-low-cost phones to Samsung from the fourth quarter of this year, Chief Executive Frans van Houten told Reuters on Friday.

Sprint Nextel Corp, which recently said it would spend up to $5 billion on a mobile high-speed wireless standard by 2010, said it had awarded the New York WiMax market to Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., the world's third-biggest mobile phone maker, said on Monday it expected to sell more than 40 million mobile handsets in the third quarter.

Plasma display makers will likely see their revenue decline beginning in 2009 as they face increased pressure from rival liquid crystal display manufacturers (LCD).

Sharp Corp. is suing its larger competitor, Samsung Electronics, alleging that the company's products infringe on its own liquid crystal display technologies.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. shares opened lower on Monday after a power outage at a major plant near Seoul on Friday affected some of its chip production lines, but the stock quickly pared back losses.

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. said on Friday it shut down six of its chip production lines after a power cut at a plant near Seoul, prompting expectations of tighter supply and a rise in prices.

Seoul shares briefly hit a record on Monday but then headed lower as exporters fell after China raised interest rates and on worries that troubles in U.S. subprime mortgages would hurt the world's largest economy.

Shares in handset and appliance maker LG Electronics surged as much as 7.6 percent on Friday, after the South Korean firm reported strong profits while bigger rival Motorola posted another quarterly loss.

Billionaire investor Carl Icahn denied on Wednesday that he has a stake in Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. or is preparing a takeover bid for the company, according to a report.

Ailing Motorola was dealt another blow as the phone maker slipped a spot into third place behind second place Samsung in the race for global shipments.

Samsung Electronics reported a quarterly profit decline of 5 percent on Friday but shares rose to a 15 month high following speculation of a take-over bid from U.S. activist investor Carl Icahn.

Flat screen maker LG.Philips LCD Co. Ltd. swung to a quarterly profit after demand began to pick up, ending a run of four straight losing quarters, and forecast further price gains for the third quarter.

Surging cellphone demand from emerging markets is expected by analysts to have cemented Nokia's leading position in the April-June quarter, while third-placed Samsung is seen closing the gap on Motorola.