CAMBRIDGE, UK – Active RFID is said to be growing, with several applications already more than $100 million, and is responsible for more than 20% of all spent on RFID. Leading the way: The U.S. military.
New IDTechEx research indicates that the value of sales of active systems will rocket from $550 million in 2006 to $6.78 billion in 2016.
FORT WASHINGTON, PA – Kulicke & Soffa will acquire Alphasem, supplier of die bonder equipment, from Dover Technologies for $30 million, subject to a working capital adjustment. The acquisition is expected to close around Nov. 3, K&S said today.
In a statement, vice president Christian Rheault, called the acquisition “a natural extension of K&S’s core equipment business into die bonding equipment. The die bonding process precedes the wire bonding step in semiconductor chip manufacturing, and normally utilizes adjacent floor space and a common engineering team. This supplier consolidation will enhance our ability to provide solutions to our customers across a greater span of the semiconductor assembly process.”
The die bonder market was $520 million in 2005, according to VLSI Research. Dover put Alphasem and several other business units on the block in July.
HIALEAH, FL -- Electronics contract manufacturer Simclar Inc. expects June quarter net income of $790,000 on sales of $30.5 million, compared to net income of $510,000 and sales of $21.8 million for the March quarter.
The company will restate its 2005 and March quarter 2006 financials due to accounting errors in the company's Mexico subsidiary during 2005.
ARMONK, NY -- IBM Corp. last week issued layoff notices to about 400 employees of its hardware development division. The company downsized staff in Austin, TX; Burlington, VT; San Jose; Raleigh, NC; and Rochester, MN.
Employees have 30 days to secure another job within the
company, according to a spokesman.