MIAMI - A number of high-profile OEMs and EMS providers presenting at an analysts conference yesterday gave mixed outlooks for 2005, and at least one EMS company suggested further acquisitions are in store.

Benchmark Electronics chief executive Cary Fu "suggested that an acquisition of assets capabilities in Asia in on the horizon," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore said today. Fu made the remarks at DB's hardware conference here yesterday.

Handset providers Brightpoint and Motorola provided upbeat forecasts, while Flextronics, Benchmark and Jabil assumed cautious or neutral stances, Whitmore said.

While Brightpoint intimated that January and February sales were progressing better than expected, Whitmore said, Flextronics CFO Tom Smach suggested trends for next two quarters were close to earlier projections.

Benchmark said its storage operations are doing well, but the overall business environment is flat.

Without providing specifics, Jabil management suggested that its February quarter was in-line with expectations. The company said its acquisition of Varian's electronics manufacturing arm is on track to close next week, and that inventory throughout the supply chain is at healthy levels.