Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

Eindhoven, The Netherlands -- Assembléon formally opened its new China Competence Center (CCC) in Shanghai during Nepcon Shanghai on April 13.

The company has 70 people, including 50 service and support engineers, already working out of the Shanghai center, with the headcount set to increase even further.

New Tripoli, PA -- The $3.4 billion dry etch market achieved a record growth rate of 89% in 2004, led by Lam Research and Applied Materials, according to a report by The Information Network.

"The 89% growth rate in 2004 topped the 85% growth achieved in 2000," noted Dr. Castellano, president. "Lam Research led the market after growing 91% in 2004. Applied Materials moved ahead of TEL into second place after growing 123%."

The Dielectric Etch sector grew 101% and achieved a 58% share of the market, followed by Polysilicon Etch, which grew 87% and held 30% of the market.

The dry etch market is earmarked to drop 10.2% in 2005 to $3.1 billion.

In the $340 million dry strip market, Mattson regained its lead after growing 132% in 2004. Novellus placed second. The dry strip market is projected to drop 7.8% in 2005.

Fremont, CA -- Manufacturing Resource Corp. will expand its operations into Grand Prairie, TX, between the cities of Dallas and Fort Worth. Operations are set to begin by the end of the month.

The new location will initially be set up for laser-cut stencil fabrication and later expand into tape and reel services. The facility will serve customers in Texas and neighboring states.

MRC has been doing business since 1994 in the Fremont location.

FOREST GROVE, OR - Merix Corp. has agreed to buy Eastern Pacific Circuits Ltd. for $120 million cash. Merix said the acquisition of the Hong Kong-based PCB supplier includes earn-out consideration of up to $8M based on 2005 adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

Merix plans to finance the transaction, expected to close in June, with a combination of available cash and debt. Eastern Pacific has four manufacturing plants in southern China and one in Hong Kong. In 2004, Eastern Pacific's preliminary unaudited sales were $143M, with adjusted EBITDA of $14.1M.

NY, April 14 -- U.S. IT spending will increase to $417 billion in 2005 and reach $497 billion by 2008, a report from IDC reveals. According to the study, government, manufacturing, and banking continue to drive IT spending in process management and content management.

According to Anne Songtao Lu, program manager for IDC's Worldwide Vertical Markets, the consumer/home vertical has become increasingly important for IT vendors.

SAN JOSE, CA -- Sanmina-SCI Corp. has demonstrated interoperability of its scalable ATCA (Advanced Telecom Computing Architecture) compatible backplane across a spectrum of existing and proposed backplane interconnect standards.

"We have completed testing and collected electrical and performance data that demonstrates how Sanmina-SCI's suite of design and manufacturing techniques enhances system-level interoperability," said George Dudnikov, Sr. VP and CTO for the PCB division. "The high-performance market is starting to see some forward momentum, and OEMs are beginning to recognize the performance benefits of using low-distortion interconnects in their systems, which are compatible with drivers and receivers from all major silicon manufacturers. As a result, system designers enjoy a variety of options."

The ATCA-compatible backplanes equalize the performance variations seen across major connector technologies (press-fit, SMT, BGA); dielectrics (low-cost and enhanced materials); existing and proposed industry-wide, high-performance interconnect protocols (Ethernet, XAUI, Infiniband, Fibre Channel, Compact PCT, ATCA, VXI, UXPi); modulation schemes (NRZ, PAM, multi-level signaling); and signal-conditioning schemes (passive and active driver pre-emphasis and receiver equalization).