News
MIAMI - A number of high-profile OEMs and EMS providers presenting at an analysts conference yesterday gave mixed outlooks for 2005, and at least one EMS company suggested further acquisitions are in store.
Benchmark Electronics chief executive Cary Fu "suggested that an acquisition of assets capabilities in Asia in on the horizon," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said today. Fu made the remarks at DB's hardware conference here yesterday.
ATLANTA - UP Media Group has issued a call for abstracts for PCB Design Conference East, the annual conference for PCB designers and engineers.
Presentations of 30 minutes, one or two hours, and half-day are sought. One- and two-day tutorials are also sought, organizers said.
For consideration, go to www.pcbeast.com
for an online submission form, or e-mail conference chair Andy Shaughnessy, ashaughnessy@upmediagroup.com. Abstracts
are due March 15.
Submissions
should include a suggested course title, length, a short description of the target
audience, a detailed 100- to 300-word abstract, and a short bio.
PCB East will be held Oct. 10-14, in Manchester, NH. The trade show is sponsored by Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly.
SAN DIEGO -- Pulse, a large component manufacturer, today announced plans to increase prices of magnetic components for local area network, telecommunications, and power conversion applications due to rising costs of sub-components, consumables, energy and labor.
Unless set by contract, prices for certain catalog and custom products will increase between 3% and 10%, depending upon product type and quantities purchased, on orders placed after March 31, the company said in a statement.
ARMONK, NY - The groundbreaking sale of IBM's PC division to a Chinese OEM has passed a key federal review and is expected to go through.
The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has completed its review of the estimate $1.75 billion sale to Chinese PC maker Lenovo.
SIOUX FALLS, SD - Raven Industries Inc. today announced record sales and earnings for its fourth quarter and full year ended January 31. Net income for the quarter climbed 41% to $3.6 million. Total sales for the industrial manufacturer's rose 31% to $44 million.
For the past 12 months, Raven reported net earnings increased 29% to $17.9 million, and sales were up 18% to $168 million.
The company projects double-digit earnings growth in fiscal 2006.
The company's electronic systems division fourth-quarter sales were relatively flat at $12.2 million. Operating income declined 6% to $1.4 million. For fiscal 2005 division sales climbed 6% to $47 million, while operating profits fell 23%, to $4.5 million. "The ESD business model of providing low-volume, high-mix contract manufacturing services, coupled with strong customer service and engineering support, is still the most viable in this marketplace," the company said.
"Traditional Gerber viewers don't always show the actual manufactured image without time-consuming setup," said Ron Huston, founder and CEO, in a statement. "PCB Check Plot Online delivers an accurate representation of the final design in a PDF format, allowing engineers to avoid costly redesign efforts and project delays once a circuit board moves into the manufacturing phase."
The tool permits engineers to upload Gerber files to Advanced Circuits' FreeDFM.com Web site and receive feedback within minutes. The feedback highlights potential design for manufacturability problems and suggests modifications. The free service requires no commitment to order.
Check Plot Online allows engineers the opportunity to remedy potential problems before declaring their design "complete."
Advanced Circuits Check Plot Online is available through its FreeDFM.com service. Engineers can view a sample of the PDF format at www.freedfm.com/checkplot.
