Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current Issue

News

MINNEAPOLIS – The SMTA announced Bill Barthel of Plexus and Dr. Laura Turbini of Research in Motion were re-elected to three-year terms on the association’s board of directors. Bill will serve as VP of technical programs and Laura will continue to serve on the association’s planning committee.

Joe Belmonte of Bose Corp. and Marie Cole of IBM were elected to the planning committee.

Current directors include president David Raby of STI Electronics, VP communications Tom Forsythe of Kyzen; VP membership Jim Kuehn of Tyco Electronics Automation Group; treasurer Dan Baldwin of Engent, and secretary Irene Sterian of Celestia.

Other planning committee members include chairperson Steve Greathouse of Greathouse Solutions; Dr. Ning-Cheng Lee of Indium; and Dr. Denis Barbini of Vitronics-Soltec.

BANGKOK – Top 40 EMS provider Fabrinet has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering of its ordinary shares.

ARLINGTON, VA – Electronic component orders dipped slightly in October after rising for four consecutive months, according to the Electronic Components, Assemblies and Materials Association.

The 12-month average, which compares order growth to the previous year, stayed level.

The modest downturn did not create alarm, especially since it was caused primarily by lower results in the first week of October, after which orders rebounded nicely through the end of the month, the ECA reports.

New cars, mobile phones, PDAs, TVs and other consumer items are packing in more components than ever, the ECA says. Sebastien Rospide of consulting firm Decision reported that the newest generation of flat-panel TVs incorporate between 2,500 to 3,000 passive components, while older-style CRTs use anywhere from 300 to 500. Rospide forecasts 8.5% growth in world electronics production this year, which will drive 6.5% growth for electronic components.