EL SEGUNDO, CA – Facing intense competition from LCDs in the consumer and business markets, plasma display panel manufacturers are finding it increasingly difficult to keep pace, according to iSuppli Corp.

Global PDP revenue will rise to $8.6 billion this year, up 11.8% year-over-year. Revenue will swell to $10.2 billion in 2008, up 18.5% from 2007 because of increased production of 50" and larger sizes, says the firm.

But, because of increased competition and continuous price pressure, the market will then undergo a revenue contraction, declining to $8.7 billion by 2011, says iSuppli.

Falling average selling prices are enabling PDPs to enjoy a growth phase in the consumer and business market, says the research firm. However, this growth period will be short-lived, with those same ASP declines causing market revenue to decline starting in 2009, following a peak in 2008.

According to iSuppli, declines in PDP ASPs are being driven by a number of factors, including increased competition forcing panel makers to reduce prices; larger PDP fab sizes boosting production efficiencies; improved manufacturing processes; declining costs for display materials; escalating competition from LCD and microdisplay-based rear-projection technologies.

Unit shipments will reach 23.6 million by 2011, rising at a CAGR of 18.6% from 2006.

MINNEAPOLIS – EMS provider Nortech Systems Inc. reported record net sales of $31.1 million for the second quarter, an increase of 19% year-over-year.

Operating income totaled $840,000, up 34% year-over-year. Net income of $367,500 was up 19% from the second quarter of 2006.

For the first half of the year, Nortech reported net sales of $59.1 million, an increase of 13% year-over-year. Operating income was $1.5 million, up 21%, while net income was $654,400, an increase of 14%.

BEIJING – China's IC output numbered 19.74 billion for the first half of the year, up 15.2% year-over-year, according to China's CCID Consulting.

Sales revenues totaled $8 billion, up 33.2% year-over-year, CCID says. However, this represents a fallback from the 48% growth in the first half of last year.

''China's IC industry will … enter a relatively stable development cycle,'' according to the firm. CCID says growth will drop to around 30% for the year, while sales revenues are expected to remain around $17.3 billion.

SEOUL – A power outage at Samsung Electronics's manufacturing plant near Seoul forced a shutdown of several production lines; this could result in a slight decline in the supply of memory, published reports say.

The company said its Kiheung complex lost power after a malfunction at a transformer substation. A Samsung spokesperson said six of the 11 lines were shut down.

Samsung reported the factory would be back up to production within two days, but didn’t state the impact of lost time.

Samsung has 44% of the market share of memory chips, says iSuppli. The plant makes DRAM and NAND flash chips, used in portable devices.

Samsung estimates a loss of 15% for the third quarter; this could mean an 8% to 10% decline in memory for the overall market, triggering price increases, Samsung believes.