German chip maker Infineon said Thursday that it had put a slump behind it during the second quarter of its business year and forecast a slower drop in sales and earnings for the full year than originally feared. Sales for the second quarter, which ended March 31, fell seven percent on a 12-month basis to 918 million euros ($1.21 billion) while marking an eight-percent rise from the previous quarter. Net profit shrank to less than one-third its level of a year earlier, to 33 million euros.

South Korean chipmaker SK Hynix on Wednesday posted a net profit of 179 billion won ($159 million) for January-March, a sharp turnaround from a year ago thanks to better-than-expected sales. The figures for the world's second-biggest memory chipmaker after Samsung Electronics are a massive improvement on the net loss of 271 billion won in the same period a year ago. The firm reported its first profitable quarter in more than a year in July-September 2012.

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd on Thursday forecast quarterly revenue to grow as much as 17 percent from the prior three months, anticipating strong mobile-related demand for chips made with its cutting-edge technology. The world's biggest contract chipmaker said it expects second-quarter revenue to rise to between T$154 billion (3.38 billion pounds)and T$156 billion from T$132.8 billion in the previous quarter.

Marking 50 years of business NEC New Zealand Ltd, a leading provider of communication networks and information technology solutions has announced the opening of a state-of-the-art Technology Innovation Centre in Wellington on 27 March to mark 50 years of business in New Zealand. The new centre was officially opened by the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable, Mr John Key at an evening event attended by the Japanese Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Yasuaki Nogawa, many of New Zealand’s leading core infrastructure companies, technology and science leaders, Government departments and execu