Sir Robin Saxby, founding chief executive officer of processor technology licensing company ARM Holdings and currently chairman, is to retire from the board of directors of the company.

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He is to be succeeded by semiconductor industry veteran Doug Dunn.

Saxby is due to retire from the board on Oct. 1, 2006, when he takes up the role of President of the U.K. professional body for engineers, the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET). Dunn, aged 61, was president and chief executive officer of ASM Lithography until his retirement in December 2004. Prior to that Dunn held senior positions at Philips Electronics including being in charge of the semiconductor division and prior to that was chief executive of GEC Plessey Semiconductors.

ASML announced that it expects Q2 2006 order entry to be at least 40 percent higher than Q1 2006 net bookings of 62 lithography systems. ASML expects its Q2 2006 bookings level to be higher than previously disclosed due to strong customer demand for deliveries in Q4 2006 and Q1 2007.

Prelude Trust has invested 1.8 million euros ($2.3 million) in Xanadu Wireless BV, a fabless semiconductor company developing products for the ZigBee low-cost wireless communications market.

The investment is the first part of a larger financing round being provided by Prelude, GIMV and Motorola Ventures, Prelude said, adding that it’s investment has brought it a 19.4 percent shareholding in Xanadu (Utrecht, The Netherlands).

Based on its conviction that Kingbright is infringing fundamental patent rights, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors has filed action against the Taiwanese LED manufacturer Kingbright Electronic at Dusseldorf Regional Court (Germany) and its German subsidiary Kingbright Europe. As part of the suit, Osram has asked that Kingbright be prevented from importing LEDs and Kingbright products containing the LEDs to Germany. Action was similarly taken against distributor D. Schuricht GmbH & Co. KG, Bremen, which is selling Kingbright's LEDs in Germany.

TRONIC'S Microsystems, a contract manufacturer of custom MEMS components, announced that it is extending its capabilities for design, frontend/backend manufacturing and electronic interfacing of MEMS components supported by a 1.7MEUR financial round with its institutional investors. The French manufacturer recently completed the upgrade of its facility from four-inch to six-inch wafer technology. The 1.7MEUR in fourth-round venture backing, which was concluded on May 12, will partially fund the capacity and capability expansions. All previous investors participated in the recent round: CDC Entreprises Innovation, Sercel, Credit Agricole Private Equity, Schneider Electric Ventures, CEA Valorisation and IXCore. TRONIC'S has received 15MEUR in total investment to support its continuous growth and consolidate its business development since its founding in 1997.

DeepStream Technologies, a North Wales pioneer in high volume integrated 3D digital sensor technology, has appointed Philippe Vedel, as its vice president of sales and marketing. Vedel has extensive global sales, marketing and operations experience working for more than nine years for Eaton Corporation, a global leader in fluid power systems, automotive and truck components and electrical systems and components.