San Jose, Calif. - Plagued by the ongoing economic downturn, global sales of semiconductors suffered their first year-over-year decline since 2001, according to new statistics from the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

Santa Clara, Calif. - Semiconductor manufacturer Intel (NASD: INTC) said on Friday that Craig Barrett will retire as its chairman in May.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Semiconductor manufacturer AMD (NYSE: AMD) said on Tuesday that it has sold the basis of its handheld business to San Diego-based handset maker Qualcomm (NASD: QCOM).

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Semiconductor manufacturer AMD (NYSE: AMD) said on Friday that it plans to cut 1,100 jobs -- around 9% of its staff -- in a move to slash expenses in the face of waning demand.

Hertfordshire, England - Apple (NASD: AAPL) has acquired a 3.6% stake in mobile graphics chip designer Imagination Technologies Group for about $5 million.

Cambridge, Mass. - Researchers at MIT and Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) have developed a new chip design for portable electronics that can be up to ten times more energy-efficient than present technology, according to an announcement on Monday. The key to the improvement in energy efficiency was to find ways of making the circuits on the chip work at a voltage level much lower than usual, according to the announcement. "While most current chips operate at around 1 volt, the new design works at just 0.3 volts. The design could lead to cell phones, implantable medical devices and sensors that last far longer when running from a battery" the announcement states.

Sunnyvale, Calif. - Telegent Systems, a developer of mobile TV chips used in cell phones and portable media devices, announced on Tuesday that it has raised $20 million in its third round of venture capital financing, led by Northern Light Venture Capital.

Fleet, England - Mirics Semiconductor, a developer of chips used to receive TV and radio broadcast signals in mobile devices, announced that it has raised $12 million in its second round of financing.

Milpitas, Calif. - Magnum Semiconductor, a developer of chips, software and reference platforms for recording, viewing and managing audio-video content, said that it has completed its acquisition of LSI Logic's consumer products business.

Santa Clara, Calif. - Artimi, a developer of wireless semiconductors for portable consumer electronics, said on Wednesday that it has added $5 million more in funding to close its second round at $31.5 million.