ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics has received U.S. antitrust approval to acquire fellow EMS firm Pemstar Inc..

Following a standard review, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it would allow the deal.

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TOKYO -- Japan's September PCB sales rose 14.4% year-over-year to 85 billion yen, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI). Sales were up 3.9% over August.

According to analyst and PCD&M columnist Dominique Numakura, the September data are "an important barometer because they predict consumer electronics spending for the upcoming Christmas holiday."

Year to date, sales are up 16.5% over 2005. Volumes are not showing significant increases, however, which suggests that Japanese manufacturers are shifting to high-end, higher margin products, Numakura said in his weekly newsletter.

Rigid boards shipments rose 13.9% over last year, while flex circuits were up 2.8%.

September revenue of IC substrates fell 5.2% from August but was up 62.3% from 2005. "It is not clear whether this is a small hiccup, or the beginning of a long slowdown," Numakura wrote. 

BANNOCKBURN, IL -- North American shipments of PCBs rose 9% in October but orders fell 6.2% year-over-year, IPC said.

The book-to-bill ratio in October was 0.99, dropping below 1.0 for the first time since November 2004. 

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ATLANTA -- Responding to a sold-out PCB East 2006 exhibit floor plus input from 2006 exhibitors and attendees, UP Media Group Inc. has announced that PCB Design Conference East will return to Durham, NC, next year.

The show will take place Oct. 21-26 at the Durham Marriott at the Civic Center, near Research Triangle Park in the heart of the second largest technology corridor in the U.S.

“We received really positive feedback on Durham, which was a new location for PCB East 2006. This helped us make the decision to return to Durham in 2007,” said Pete Waddell, president of UP Media Group.

Anyone interested in speaking or presenting at PCB East 2007 should go to www.pcbeast.com and click Speaking Opportunities.