Hangzhou Eastcom Cellular Phone Co. will purchase $20 million worth of SMT equipment and maintenance over the next three years, Autron Pte. said. Autron will also help manage Hangzhou's spare parts inventories.
The new center houses process R&D and remanufacturing facilities, spare parts, component engineering and demo lines.
With the refurbished equipment, the company also provides original documentation, genuine spare parts, software and component upgrade, and warranty and service support.
Engineers are trained at the original manufacturer's factories, Autron said.
The company estimates the market for refurbished equipment will reach $500 million in 2005.
In a statement, C. L Tan, group executive chairman, said ""We have spent the last 1½ years tediously building on our product and process knowledge, market research in the industry and working closely with customers to understand their concerns, fears and needs. The rebuilt equipment division is an important high margin growth engine of our solutions business model and we intend to dominate this space for long time to come."
Autron provides electronics assembly equipment and services including distribution services and manufacturing.
iSuppli forecasts worldwide semiconductor sales will hit $237.1 billion in 2005. The firm said last month that sales would grow 9.6% in 2005.
iSuppli cited lower sales forecasts for electronics equipment, which is expected to grow 6.2% in 2005, down from 10.1% this year.
The firm also cited growing chip stocks: excess inventories in the supply chain doubled last quarter, to $1.6 billion, iSuppli said.
2006 will mark the low point for IC sales, followed by a recovery in 2007 and 2008, iSuppli predicts.
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL, Dec. 7 -- SigmaTron International Inc. today reported net revenues increased to $27.9 million for the quarter ended Oct. 31. Net income was $1.3 million, down from $1.8 million a year ago.
SigmaTron had sales of $26.5 million in the year ago quarter.
First-half sales rose $1.5 million, to $52.9 million. Net income fell $800,000, to $2.3 million.
Sales were higher for telecommunications and appliances, the firm said.
Gary R. Fairhead, president and chief executive, said, "Pricing pressures, product life cycle issues and component pricing impacted our results."
The company operates plants in Elk Grove Village (Chicago); Las Vegas; Fremont, CA (SMT Unlimited); Acuna, Mexico; and Suzhou, China. The latter's sales rose in the quarter now employs 135 workers.
GRAND RAPIDS, MI, Dec. 7 -- MiQuest, a maker of electronics assemblies, is planning to expand its factory here to meet higher demand, according to a local news report.
According to the report, city officials are reviewing zoning ordinances in order to pave the way for the firm's expansion.
MiQuest currently employs 50 and could add 20 to 25 more if the city approves the zoning request, the report said.
The company hopes to begin construction "as soon as possible" and production will start early next year, MiQuest project manager Richard Tournier reportedly said.
NEW YORK -- China's Lenovo Group will buy IBM's PC business for $1.75 billion in cash and stock, according to several news reports and company sources.
With the acquisition, Lenovo would become the third-largest PC company in the world, with sales of $12 billion, said Lenovo chairman Liu Chuanzhihe.
IBM is currently the third largest maker of PCs, behind Dell (16.4%) and HP(13.9%). The merged company will have an 8% share of the global PC market.
Leveno will acquire a 81.1% stake with IBM holding 18.9%.
Stephen M. Ward, Jr., currently IBM senior vice president and general manager of IBM's Personal Systems Group, will serve as the chief executive of Lenovo when the deal closes. Yuanqing Yang, currently vice chairman, president and chief executive of Lenovo, will become chairman of Lenovo.
Lenovo, China's biggest computer maker, claiming a 27% share, is traded publicly on the Hong Kong exchange.
In a Dec. 8 research note, Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said anticipated supplier consolidation by Lenovo could hurt Sanmina-SCI. DB estimates Sanmina-SCI generates about 20% of its revenue from building PC boards for IBM.
"We believe IBM-Lenovo will look to consolidate its supply base following the completion of the acquisition, creating downward pressure on margins [and] pricing across the PC supply chain," Whitmore wrote. He speculated that Sanmina-SCI would either see less volume and lower margins.
Sanmina-SCI could lose $50 million in annual operating profits if Lenovo were to end IBM's existing PC board supply deal.
Lenovo was founded in 1984 and was formerly known as Legend. It has a 2% share of the PC market, according to Gartner.
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