IN BRIEF (Page 16)

Spansion seeks protection

Spansion Inc, the world's third-biggest maker of flash memory chips, sought bankruptcy protection in a US court on Sunday, becoming the latest chip maker to succumb to falling chip prices and a deepening recession.

Spansion, which recently said it was exploring a sale of the company, said it plans to use the bankruptcy process to restructure debt obligations and refocus on its more profitable divisions.