Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

CONCORD, NH -- A state committee will soon contemplate a bill banning the disposal of electronics waste into landfills.

The proposed bill is expected to be introduced this month by Rep. Tara Sad, chairman of the Environment and Agriculture Committee, and would be sent to either to the House Environment and Agricultural Committee or the Science and Technology Committee, the local Union Leader newspaper reported.

Sad cited landfill capacity, the rise of corporate takeback programs and "e-waste" recycling firms, and moral obligations that would keep the US from shipping waste to third-world nations.

TAIPEI -- Hon Hai Precision today disputed reports the company will distribute Apple's iPhone in China.

Hon Hai, the official name of Foxconn, dismissed the reports as media rumor, saying big announcements would come from the company.

DALLAS -- TXP Corp. has received a default notice from a major investor claiming the EMS provider owes more than $10 million.

YA Global Investments notified TXP on Dec. 11 of the company's failure to pay a sum of more than $250,000, and claiming TXP is "unable to pay its debts generally as they come due" and of "failure to pay its debts as they come due." In the letter, YA Global demanded TXP immediately repay all of its obligations, a sum of $10.2 million as of Dec. 17, inclusive of accrued and unpaid interest.

The complaints relate to a securities purchase deal TXP and YA Global signed last spring.

TXP is in negotiations with YA Global to reach an resolution, and is seeking sources of financing in order to redeem the outstanding debt owed to YA Global and to resume operations.

SAN JOSE -- Global semiconductor sales fell almost 10% year-over-year in November to $20.8 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association said today.

BANNOCKBURN, IL -- The 90-day moving average of November shipments of bare PWBs fell 7% year-over-year and orders slumped 18.8%, according to the latest survey of the nation's board fabricators.

For the month, rigid shipments dropped 5.8% and bookings fell 17.3%, while flex circuit shipments dropped 22.6% and bookings plunged 36.8%, IPC said.

Through November, rigid shipments are up 2.4%, and bookings are down 3.8%. Flex circuit shipments are up 5.8% and bookings are down 5.5% versus last year.

The monthly book-to-bill ratio slipped to 0.94. The ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period. A ratio of more than 1.0 is considered a sign of future expansion.

Rigid PWBs make up an estimated 90% of survey.About 14% of the value of the PWBs covered in the survey are imported by brokers, IPC said.

Overall, shipments are up 2.6% and bookings are down 3.9%.

IPC said in a statement it expects PWB revenues in 2008 will be flat with 2007.