TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – Five BenQ executives have been indicted on embezzlement, money laundering and forgery charges, causing shares in the Taiwan company to fall sharply today.
A spokesman for the Taoyuan District Prosecutor's Office said BenQ chairman KY Lee, president Sheaffer Lee, and senior vice president Eric Yu were among those charged and face minimum jail terms of seven years. The three allegedly violated securities laws in the sale of $24 million of shares designated for employee stock options in 2003.
Financial officer Alex Liou and accounting manager DW Liu were also indicted. All five are also suspected of using employees as a front to sell shares shortly before BenQ disclosed heavy losses in March 2006 from its takeover of the mobile phone operations of Siemens AG.
BenQ calls the indictment "unacceptable,” but has hope for a fair trial.
The company today also announced $10 billion in revenue for April, down 8% from the same month last year. In the first quarter of 2007, BenQ’s 37- and 42-inch LCD TVs ranked number one, and overall LCD TV products ranked third in the Taiwan market.
MINNEAPOLIS – EMS provider Nortech Systems Inc. today reported net sales of $28 million for the first quarter of 2007, up 8% over the $26 million reported for the same period last year.
Operating income was $651,379 for the first quarter, compared with $600,970 year-over-year. Net income totaled $286,894, versus $263,948 for the first quarter of 2006.
TOKYO – Japan's TDK Corp. will invest about $416 million on an electronics component factory, according to a Bloomberg report.
A TDK spokesman said the factory in Yurihonjo will increase the company's manufacturing capacity of ceramic capacitors by 40%. The company will begin building the factory in June, and production will start in the second quarter next year.
SAN JOSE, CA — EMS companies showed strong year-over-year first-quarter growth on the whole, says market research firm Gartner Inc.
Nine top EMS companies showed growth of 16% in the first quarter compared to 2006, according to the research firm.
SPOKANE, WA – EMS provider Key Tronic Corporation will begin providing product assembly for Imation Corp’s tape-based data storage cartridges in July.
The agreement is expected to contribute $20 million to Key Tronic’s annual revenue.
The agreement is expected to contribute $20 million to Key Tronic’s annual revenue.
Assembly operations will take place in its primary manufacturing facility in Juarez, Mexico.
BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC’s Executive Market & Technology Forum has issued requests for proposals for two new research studies.
One study will cover Microelectronics: The Future of Miniaturization and its Impact on Electronics Manufacturing; the second will address Geographic Strategies for Global Expansion in the Electronics Interconnect Industry: Where to Invest for Long-Term Business Growth.
Proposals are due by May 18; commissions will be announced in early June. IPC anticipates publishing the studies in September.
More information about IPC’s market research programs, including the Executive Market & Technology Forum, is available on the Market Research page at www.ipc.org.
