IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Speedier shakeup

Toshiba Corp, Japan's largest chipmaker, said it will speed up reorganization of its semiconductor business amid a "dire" business environment.

"The chip industry, including our operations, are in a dire situation," Masashi Muromachi, head of Toshiba's chip business, said at the Semicon Japan 2008 conference in Makuhari, near Tokyo. The Tokyo-based company plans a "drastic" reorganization of test and assembly operations at its system LSI business, he said.