Fair Value Measurements (Text Block)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Fair Value Measurement Disclosure [Abstract]

Fair Value Measurements [Text Block]

NOTE 2 – FAIR VALUE MEASUREMENTS

Fair value is the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. A fair value measurement assumes that the transaction to sell the asset or transfer the liability occurs in the principal market for the asset or liability or, in the absence of a principal market, the most advantageous market for the asset or liability. The price in the principal (or most advantageous) market used to measure the fair value of the asset or liability shall not be adjusted for transaction costs. An orderly transaction is a transaction that assumes exposure to the market for a period prior to the measurement date to allow for marketing activities that are usual and customary for transactions involving such assets and liabilities; it is not a forced transaction. Market participants are buyers and sellers in the principal market that are (i) independent, (ii) knowledgeable, (iii) able to transact and (iv) willing to transact.

The Company uses valuation techniques that are consistent with the market approach, the income approach and/or the cost approach. The market approach uses prices and other relevant information generated by market transactions involving identical or comparable assets and liabilities. The income approach uses valuation techniques to convert future amounts, such as cash flows or earnings, to a single present amount on a discounted basis. The cost approach is based on the amount that currently would be required to replace the service capacity of an asset (replacement costs). Valuation techniques should be consistently applied. Inputs to valuation techniques refer to the assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability. Inputs may be observable, meaning those that reflect the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on market data obtained from independent sources, or unobservable, meaning those that reflect the reporting entity's own assumptions about the assumptions market participants would use in pricing the asset or liability developed based on the best information available in the circumstances. These two types of inputs create a three-tier fair value hierarchy that gives the highest priority to quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs. The fair value hierarchy is as follows:

Level 1 Inputs - Unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities that the reporting entity has the ability to access at the measurement date.

Level 2 Inputs - Inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1 that are observable for the asset or liability, either directly or indirectly. These include quoted prices for similar assets or liabilities in active markets, quoted prices for identical or similar assets or liabilities in markets that are not active, inputs other than quoted prices that are observable for the asset or liability (for example, interest rates, volatilities, prepayment speeds, loss severities, credit risks and default rates) or inputs that are derived principally from or corroborated by observable market data by correlation or other means.

Level 3 Inputs - Significant unobservable inputs that reflect an entity's own assumptions that market participants would use in pricing the assets or liabilities.

As of December 31, 2012, the Company had investments in shares of common stock of BCD Semiconductor Manufacturing Limited (“BCD”), which were purchased on the open market and records unrealized gains and lossesin other income (expense). The shares of common stock are valued under the fair value hierarchy as a Level 1 Input.See Note 17 for further information about BCD.

Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value as of December 31, 2012 are classified in the following table:

Trading Securities		Fair Market Value		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Total Changes in Fair Values Included in Current Period Earnings
BCD	$	7,092	$	7,092	$	-	$	-	$	3,679

On September 7, 2011, the Company purchased 10 million shares of the common stock of Eris Technology Corporation (“Eris”), a publicly traded company listed on Taiwan's GreTai Securities Market that provides design, manufacturing and after-market services for diode products. The Company paid NT$39 per share or NT$390 million (approximately US$14 million), which represents an approximately 30 percent ownership in Eris after the transaction. As of December 31, 2011, the Company held 12,413,604shares of Eris.

The accounting rules permit a company to choose, at specified election dates, to measure at fair value certain eligible financial assets and liabilities that are not currently required to be measured at fair value. The specified election dates include, but are not limited to, the date when an entity first recognizes the item, when an entity enters into a firm commitment or when changes in the financial instrument causes it to no longer qualify for fair value accounting under a different accounting standard. The fair value option may be elected for each entire financial instrument, but need not be applied to all similar instruments. Once the fair value option has been elected, it is irrevocable. Unrealized gains and losses on items for which the fair value option has been elected will be reported in other income (expense).

The Company has elected the fair value option for the shares of Eris common stock. Fair value is the price that would be received on the sale of an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The shares of Eris common stock will be valued under the fair value hierarchy as a Level 1 Input.

Financial assets and liabilities carried at fair value as of December 31, 2011 are classified in the following table:

			Fair Value Measurements						Changes in Fair Values for Items Measured at Fair Value Pursuant to Election of the Fair Value Option
Description		Fair Value Estimate		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Other Gains and (Losses)		Total Changes in Fair Values Included in Current-Period Earnings
Securities carried at fair value *	$	13,078	$	13,078	$	-	$	-	$	(1,039)	$	(1,039)
(*) Represents investments that would otherwise be accounted for under the equity method of accounting and is included in other assets.

On August 31, 2012, the Company acquired approximately 51% of the outstanding common stock of Eris. The Company has accounted for the additional purchase of shares as a business combination achieved in stages (“step acquisition”) and consolidated Eris beginning September 1, 2012. See Note 17 for further information about Eris.

Certain financial assets and financial liabilities are measured at fair value on a nonrecurring basis; that is, the instruments are not measured at fair value on an ongoing basis but are subject to fair value adjustments in certain circumstances (for example, when there is evidence of impairment). Financial assets and financial liabilities measured at fair value on a non-recurring basis were not significant at December 31, 2012 and 2011. Certain non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring and non-recurring basis include goodwill, other intangible assets and other non-financial long-lived assets.