The NAND memory industry is not in great shape at the moment, with the big three (Micron, Samsung, SK Hynix) having reported significant financial losses in this area recently. If you include Kioxia and Western Digital as part of this collective picture, a grand total of over $10 billion has been lost in the flash memory segment. According to DigiTimes Asia this week, Pua Khein-Seng - the chief executive officer of Phison Electronics Corporation - has warned that parts of the industry could collapse due to potential company bankruptcies.

Khein-Seng informed attendees at a press conference that forced NAND price cuts are not feasible in the current market environment, and that supply chains could be affected if related companies start to shutdown - due to operational losses. He expects 3D NAND manufacturers to cutback on output in order to soften the market, and unit price increases are also a possibility. Phison has experienced a drop in revenues for the first quarter of 2023, but the CEO insists that his company is not willing to cutback on research and development costs - 80% of its annual expense budget will be invested in future projects. Khein-Seng states that rival companies have reduced spending on R&D by 20%, yet Phison remains committed to its clients by providing cutting edge technology (for example the E26 SSD memory controller).

Japanese OLED display manufacturer JOLED has decided to throw in the towel, as the company board has filed for bankruptcy protection at the Tokyo District Court. JOLED has some 33.7 billion yen (US$257 million) in liabilities and is hoping to cover some of these by selling off assets. The Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ), which is the largest shareholder of JOLED, will be taking over its R&D department, along with around 100 employees as well as its intellectual property. However, it will not take over either of JOLEDs two fabs, located in Nomi and Chiba, Japan. The two fabs employ around 280 staff and currently the two fabs building displays using JOLED's innovative printing technology for OLED displays are expected to be closed.

However, as JOLED still has supply contracts with the likes of Apple, ASUS, Eizo, LG and Sony, INCJ will continue to operate the fabs for now, to fulfil the contracts for the time being. INCJ is apparently accepting responsibility to cover JOLED's liabilities, sheltering the other shareholders of JOLED, which includes Japanese Denso and Chinese CSOT/TCL. JOLED has struggled for most of its existence, being late to market with its OLED displays and haven't been able to compete with the likes of LG and Samsung in Korea and BOE Display and CSOT in China. Hopefully INCJ will be able to take advantage of the intellectual property from JOLED, as the company is focusing on making its own line of OLED displays in the future.

Friends, fans, and former customers of CaseLabs, I have the great pleasure to announce that CaseLabs is officially back after the bankruptcy in 2018! We are now under new management and have re-located to Sweden, but don't worry, everything you knew and loved about CaseLabs will remain the same. We will carry on the spirit of CaseLabs as best as we can while updating existing models and bringing new models to the market.

Let me introduce myself very briefly: My name is Emil, I'm almost 37 years old, I live in Sweden, and I am the new owner of CaseLabs since October 2021. Ever since I first heard that CaseLabs went bankrupt I've been trying to buy CaseLabs' intellectual property. After a long and drawn-out process the trustee and I finally came to an agreement in the spring of 2021 and the purchase was finalized in October 2021. Since then Daniel and I have been working on bringing CaseLabs back to life again.

The latest episode in the whole Terra/LUNA debacle - which saw $40 billion in crypto evaporating in a few hours - showcases that the crypto world doesn't operate within its own locked ecosystem. A court order for the arrest of Terra founder Do Kwon and five others was issued this Wednesday morning, on charges of violating the Capital Markets Act. LUNA fell 36% in the past 24 hours while LUNC (Luna Classic, representing the circulating LUNA tokens before the UST stablecoin's catastrophic depeg from the dollar value) dropped 25%, with much of the price movement coming after news of the warrant was made public on Wednesday morning.

The Terra/LUNA debacle brought about billions in losses across the cryptocurrency ecosystem, with multiple companies in the crypto finance area (from DeFi [Decentralized Finance] through CeFi [Centralized Finance] players such as Celsius Network, Voyager Digital and Three Arrows Capital claiming bankruptcy as their Terra/LUNA investments and reserves trended towards zero value. Accusations have been spread left and right that Terra/LUNA operated like a Ponzi Scheme - it remains to be seen whether that's the interpretation of the South Korea justice system.

Cloud gaming companies have had limited success with Google recently shutting down Stadia game studios and NVIDIA having trouble getting games for their platform. Shadow, the cloud gaming service operated by Blade looked promising with high-end hardware and a large wait-list of customers however it all appears to have come to an end after the company filed for bankruptcy earlier this month. The Paris Commercial Court ruled that the server provider 2CRSi used by Shadow retains the right to take 30.2 million EURO worth of hardware to pay debts owed. The US branch of the company also filed for bankruptcy in the California Northern Bankruptcy Court with similar debts owed to 2CRSi. Blade issued a statement claiming that their Shadow game streaming service had been a victim of its own success and that they hope to find a new investor for the company so that they can keep it's hardware.

Premium aluminium case maker CaseLabs made a splash in 2015 when it accused Thermaltake of stealing many of its case designs to make "cheap Asian knock-offs." When faced with the prospect of a legal challenge by the much larger Thermaltake, CaseLabs this July withdrew its comments and publicly apologized to Thermaltake for it. Things didn't look up for the company after that. A deadly cocktail of the US-China trade-war, and the default of a large commercial loan account hit the company "at the worst possible time," it said in a statement. Failure to secure additional capital to stay afloat was the last straw.

Apparently, the import tariffs on a wide range of products manufactured in China raised prices for CaseLabs by "almost 80 percent," which cut deeply into the company's margins. The company has since stopped accepting orders, thanked its over 20,000 customers, and promised to fulfill as many of the pending orders as possible, while cautioning that it won't be able to fulfill all of them.The full CaseLabs statement follows.

Netlink Computer Inc., commonly known as NCIX in the hardware enthusiast circle, was a popular Canadian hardware and software retailer founded by Steve Wu in 1996. NCIX established its first base of operations in British Columbia, and with time, the company eventually owned numerous retail stores in Canada and as much as three shipping facilities, including one in the US. Despite having to compete against the likes of Amazon and Newegg, the Canadian retailer always appeared financially healthy, or so we thought. The company entered a financial crisis back in the month of July, and it had no choice but to close a few of their retail stores. Financial problems are like leaky pipes. If you don't fix the leak in time, it'll eventually flood your whole house. And apparently, NCIX wasn't capable of fixing theirs. With no other options available to them, the ex-retailer closed their last store on November 30 and filed for bankruptcy shortly afterwards on December 1.

NCIX haven't officially disclosed the reasons that lead to their bankruptcy or how long they've been lingering in red numbers. Being a private organization, they're not obligated by law to reveal their financial reports to the general public either. However, the internet is filled with speculations. Some blame the higher-ups in the company for bad management. Others believe it was NCIX's own stubbornness to invest in physical stores that lead them to their demise. So, is this the end for NCIX? Not quite. Companies go into bankruptcy all the time, and some do bounce back. TigerDirect and RadioShack are perfect examples. We can only hope NCIX do the same.

Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. (the "Company") (OTC Pink:MCZAF) announced that, with the authorization and approval of its Board of Directors, it and its subsidiary, 1328158 Ontario Inc., made a voluntary assignment in bankruptcy on March 30, 2017, pursuant to the provisions of the Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act (Canada). Pursuant to the assignment in bankruptcy, PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. ("PWC") has been appointed as the trustee in bankruptcy of the Company's estate.

The Company's wholly-owned subsidiary, Mad Catz, Inc., ceased operations and also has filed a voluntary petition for relief under chapter 7 of the United States Bankruptcy Code to initiate an orderly liquidation of the assets of the Company. In addition, certain of the Company's other subsidiaries have filed or will file for liquidation under comparable legislation in their countries of origin. The Company also announced that all of the directors and officers of the Company have resigned effective as March 30, 2017.

Many research firms' numbers have shown that VR product sales in 2016 have been weaker than originally expected due to both high product costs and lack of content. No-one has yet seen VR's killer app, after all, and I know I'd love to see another Halo-like product to drive awareness on the VR platforms like it did on the original Xbox.

All of the above lead towards Google's Daydream View, HTC's Vive, Oculus Rift and Samsung Electronics' Gear VR having all achieved sales that are not even close to previously-set market expectations, with even the current mainstream poster-boy for VR, Sony's PSVR, showing adoption numbers that are as lowly as low can be. Even in their home-field, Japan, a country known for being filled with tech-savvy and tech-crazed customers, only 0.7% of the existing PS4 and PS4 Pro user-base has made the jump for a VR headset.

In the wake of Zalman's parent company Moneual getting in serious trouble over financial fraud, it was reported that Zalman is filing for bankruptcy protection. Over the weekend, Zalman's US office issued a statement, denying this. A company spokesperson for Zalman issued the following statement to the press.

I know that recently various media and other vendors are spreading rumors regarding Zalman going bankrupt over the recent scandals in Korea by our parent company Moneual. I wanted to assure you that these rumors of Zalman HQ going bankrupt are completely false. While our HQ is having some financial difficulties due to the recent troubles experienced by Moneual, Zalman is not going bankrupt.

Popular PC cooling products maker Zalman filed for bankruptcy, in midst of a huge controversy by its parent company Moneual. Executives of Moneual cooked-up sales and export figures from Zalman to markets like the United States, in a bid to pick up large fraudulent loans for the company, which it could never pay off, pushing it to bankruptcy.

The controversy came to light, when a whistleblower former-employee of Moneual took these details to the press. It's alleged that CEO Harold Park (Hong-seok), Vice President Scott Park (Min-seok) and Vice President Won Duck-yeok committed a fraud, in which subsidiary Zalman would inflate its sales and export data, to qualify for large bank loans. The trio then used it to lift US $2.92 billion in loans, which the company could never pay back. Zalman has since filed for bankruptcy protection, with the Seoul Central District Court; while the three top Moneual executives, and 13 other mid-level ones, were arrested over allegations of export fraud.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced that the Company has signed an asset purchase agreement with Toshiba Corporation, a global technology leader and manufacturer of NAND flash memory, to acquire substantially all of OCZ's assets in a chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding for $35M.

Under this agreement Toshiba will acquire OCZ's client and enterprise solid state drive business. OCZ will continue to operate and serve existing and future customers during this process. Toshiba has agreed to provide the Company with DIP (Debtor-in-Possession) financing to ensure that there is adequate capital and flash supply to support the business during the contemplated sale period. The consummation of the asset purchase agreement is subject to an auction and approval by the bankruptcy court in the Company's bankruptcy case.

OCZ Technology Group, Inc., a leading provider of high-performance solid state drives (SSDs) for computing devices and systems, today announced that on November 25, 2013, it received notices that Hercules Technology Growth Capital, Inc. ("Hercules") took exclusive control of the Company's depository accounts at Silicon Valley Bank and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association. As set forth in the Company's recent SEC filings, Hercules and the Company are parties to a loan and security agreement. As previously reported, the Company is not in compliance with certain of the operating ratios and covenants in the loan agreement. As a result of such action and pursuant to Hercules' written instruction, the depository institutions disbursed the cash in the Company's respective accounts to accounts under the control of Hercules.

The Company has received an offer from Toshiba Corporation to acquire substantially all of the Company's assets in a bankruptcy proceeding. The parties have substantially completed negotiations on an asset purchase agreement and OCZ believes that all the material terms have been agreed to.

Japanese DRAM maker Elpida has been reporting chronic financial problems since the beginning of 2012. It soon filed for bankruptcy, driving interest in competitors Toshiba, Global Foundries, Micron and Hynix (SK Hynix), to acquire it. Hynix has now reportedly withdrawn from the Elpida takeover bid. The withdrawal is likely due to its own financial situation. Hynix is not the first to withdraw from the bid, the first to drop out was Toshiba. With the two gone, Micron Technology is next in line, with a bid of US $1.4 billion to buy out Elpida.

Yes, that's right, SOPA might have been set back for now, but the vested interests from the big media corporations (music/movies/news etc) that want it implemented unsurprisingly aren't sitting idle and are pushing for ever more draconian measures aka 'SOPA Plus'. A digital music report (PDF) asks for everything that was in the original SOPA and then some, with a wishlist of seven 'fixes':

In a court ruling on Wednesday 28th September 2011, Apple's assertion that any kind of 'Hackintosh' was, is and always will be, illegal, was conclusively affirmed. This will bring great dismay to Psystar customers, potential purchasers of other "alternative Macs" and the many PC enthusiasts who want to run the latest Apple OS on the high-spec rigs they've built themselves from hand-picked components. This ruling has unfortunately sounded the death knell for enterprising and surprisingly plucky upstart outfit, Psystar, who showed what could be possible with an open mind and technical skill. UPDATE after the jump.

Talks with potential investors regarding a solution to keep Qimonda in operation will continue beyond the end of March 2009. "Various investors have signaled their interest, but as yet there are no binding offers on the table. As anticipated, it will not be possible to reach a conclusive solution by the end of March," announced preliminary insolvency administrator Dr. Michael Jaffé today after a meeting with the creditors committee.

The employees of the insolvent Qimonda AG and Qimonda Dresden OHG will be able to claim compensation by means of statutory insolvency payments until the end of March 2009. By the end of March, the bankruptcy court in Munich will also have received the preliminary insolvency administrator's report on the basis of which the court will make a decision on whether to open insolvency proceedings.

Spansion Inc., the world's largest pure-play provider of Flash memory solutions, today filed a voluntary petition for reorganization under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code as part of its strategy to strengthen its financial position and focus its business for long-term success. The company's strategic plan is designed to restructure its burdensome debt obligations and intensify its focus on market segments with greater profit potential. Each of Spansion's domestic subsidiaries also simultaneously filed chapter 11 petitions.
"Given our focus on Spansion's future, management and the Board have concluded that chapter 11 provides the most effective means for Spansion to preserve its business, meet its post-petition obligations and maintain customer confidence and continuity while we complete this restructuring," said President and CEO John Kispert. "At the same time we will continue to explore opportunities for a strategic transaction to ensure that we are doing all we can to maximize value for our stakeholders."