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The world’s top memory-chip makers, struggling with the deepest industry downturn in more than a decade, say the worst may soon be over as customers come back and cuts in production and investment help counter a supply glut. After reporting a $3.4 billion operating loss in the first quarter in its semiconductor division, Samsung Electronics Co. said Thursday that demand for memory chips was expected to gradually recover in the second half of the year after a prolonged slide. The…

Microsoft may or may not take much internet-search market share from Google, but the cost of holding on to that lucrative business is heading higher regardless.  This has been apparent since early February when Microsoft lifted the wraps on a new Bing search engine powered by generative artificial-intelligence technology. Microsoft effectively declared its goal of finally becoming a major player in the business that generates more than $224 billion a year in advertising revenue for Google.…

SEOUL— Samsung Electronics Co. said it expects a steep fall in its first-quarter profit, dropping to levels last seen during the financial crisis as an extended slump in the tech sector hits its memory-chip business hard. Samsung said Friday that its operating profit for the January-March quarter was expected to have dropped by around 95.8% from the prior year to 600 billion won, or roughly $455 million, in what would be the…

Tech companies are rolling out new noise-reduction tools to filter out cacophony on your calls—but you need to know how to find them. As part of its iOS 16.4 update last week, Apple AAPL -0.65% added its Voice Isolation feature to cellular phone calls, bringing the caller’s voice to the forefront and blocking out ambient noise.…

WASHINGTON—Semiconductor companies seeking federal grants under the Chips Act could face a tough decision: take Washington’s help to expand in the U.S., or preserve their ability to expand in China.  Some of the proposed restrictions, known as the China guardrails, were tougher than industry executives, lawyers and national-security analysts say they had expected—both for leading-edge semiconductor plants needed for advanced military weapons systems as well as factories making so-called legacy chips used in consumer…

WASHINGTON—Semiconductor companies seeking U.S. grants under the Chips Act will be asked to provide detailed projections for revenue and profit from their new chip-making plants to help evaluate their applications, the Commerce Department said Monday.   The Chips Act provides $53 billion to help restore U.S. manufacturing might in semiconductors. Companies building leading-edge chip factories in the U.S. can begin applying for the funds Thursday. The application process for companies…

SEOUL—The U.S. Chips Act is dangling billions of dollars in subsidies in front of the world’s biggest semiconductor manufacturers, but South Korea says there are too many strings attached.The conditions for receiving the subsidies unveiled last week are putting two of South Korea’s biggest chip makers— Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. 000660 -0.89% —in a difficult position as they decide whether to apply for the federal…

BARCELONA—It’s a tough time for the smartphone market. Not that you’d know from the 2,000-plus exhibitors and 80,000-ish attendees jammed into a conference center for MWC, the mobile-tech show formerly known as Mobile World Congress. Everyone seems to have optimism about the future, abuzz with buzzwords to sell it.So I began playing a game with myself. The rules of Buzzword Bingo are simple. As fast as you can, scan the trade-show floor and spot all the acronyms: 5G! MR! IOT! In just 45 minutes of walking around, I…

SEOUL—Consumers around the world are increasingly choosing Apple Inc.’s AAPL -1.80% iPhones over high-end Android smartphones, with younger users seen as pushing the company toward the level of dominance in the market globally that it has enjoyed in the U.S.From Europe to Asia, Apple’s market lead in the premium bracket is growing, and polls show that people in their teens and early 20s, known as Gen Z, increasingly see the iPhone as a must-have. Converts say they are…

The aim would be to create ecosystems that would bring together fabrication plants, research-and-development labs, final packaging facilities for assembly of chips and the suppliers needed to support each phase of the operation, Ms. Raimondo said Thursday. “Our vision at the end of this initiative is to make it so that the United States of America is the only country in the world where every company capable of producing leading edge chips will have a significant R&D and high-volume manufacturing presence in our…