Analog Devices reported a quarterly profit that fell from a year ago but topped Wall Street's expectations, sending shares higher in extended trading.

The wireless chip industry expects smartphone market surge to continue, with British microchip designer ARM saying growth would likely even accelerate further next year.

Prosecutors in California will not oppose a request by Galleon Group founder Raj Rajaratnam to make public the criminal record of Roomy Khan, one of several people cooperating with the U.S. government's probe of its biggest hedge fund insider trading case.

BofA Merrill Lynch lowered its 2010 growth forecast for global semiconductor industry and downgraded ten chipmakers, including Intel, turning more cautious on the group on expectations of a modest overshoot in global supply chain inventories.

The European Ombudsman rebuked European Union regulators on Wednesday for procedural errors in their antitrust probe of Intel but the censure will not affect a 1.06 billion euro ($1.58 billion) fine against the U.S. chipmaker.

Applied Materials shares rose in after-hours trading after the company reported earnings and revenue that beat analysts' expectations, and said it planned to cut jobs globally.

Japanese DRAM chip maker Elpida Memory said it will outsource production to Taiwan's Winbond Electronics, as it tries to consolidate its position in Taiwan against U.S. rival
Micron.

SMIC, China's largest contract chipmaker, said its long-serving CEO has been replaced by another industry veteran, in a move that could pave the way for consolidation in China's
struggling chip sector.

The Semiconductor Industry Association reported that its sales are expected to grow by 10 percent to $242.1 billion in 2010 and by more than 8 percent to $262.3 billion in 2011 in its annual industry forecast.

A California jury ruled on Tuesday that Semiconductor Manufacturing International stole and used trade secrets from rival Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, possibly putting SMIC on the hook for more than $1 billion in damages for TSMC, a lawyer for TSMC said on Tuesday.

Global semiconductor sales continued to improve in the third quarter, according to an industry trade group, though revenue remains below year-ago levels.

Taiwan's TSMC, the world's top contract chip maker, met market expectations as it posted its biggest quarterly net profit in a year, after making more advanced chips for new PCs and other high-tech gadgets.

Samsung Electronics said it aimed to increase its semiconductor revenue by more than 50 percent in three years and was upbeat on the memory market in 2010.

Texas Instruments beat earnings forecasts Monday and posted better-than-expected revenue, sending shares higher in afteroon trading.

Intel reported a profit excluding one-time items that was lower than last year but which blew out analysts' expectations.