WALLINGFORD, CT -- Amphenol Corp. reported fourth quarter sales fell 3% year-over-year to $755.3 million on lower demand for automotive and communications products.
For the period ended Dec. 31, net profits fell 1% to 98.7 million with an operating income margin of 18.9%. Sales were down about 9% sequentially for the company, which makes circuit boards and connectors.
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA -- Sales of automatic test equipment for PCBs topped $1.16 billion in 2007 and are expected to reach $1.85 billion in
2014, up 60% over the forecast period, according to a Frost and Sullivan
report.
The research firm says its findings show greater use of combination
testers because of the versatility of this approach when applied to
high density circuit boards and components. Manufacturers using a
combination of methods can optimize yields. The combination of
functional testing and boundary scan testing has become popular in
spite of high equipment cost because it can reduce the overall cost of
testing.
“In today's electronic industry, it is highly
imperative to have sufficient test coverage to improve product quality,
reduce time-to-market and improve manufacturing yields,” saysFrost
research analyst Sujan Sami. “Especially in a situation
where device complexity, functionality of chips and circuit board
architectures are on a rise; cost-effective and efficient test
solutions will be the key, and the right combinational testers expect
to play a major role.
“The need for more sophisticated
products, especially in the extremely demanding automotive and medical
industries drives the need for better quality oriented test equipment. The modular functionality of integrating various types of
test equipment expects to surpass the need for individual hardware and
software testing moving forward.”
HELSINKI -- Elcoteq today said it plans to cut 5,000 workers, or about 25% its global workforce, and shut plants around the world.
The EMS firm, the world's sixth largest according to the Circuits Assembly Top 50, said it would close plants in the US, Romania and Russia, while consolidating its China operations to Beijing.
SCHAUMBURG, IL -- Motorola will lay off an
additional 4,000 jobs, 3,000 from its hard-hit mobile-device business, as it struggles to regain its balance.
The company also said it expects December quarter sales of $7
billion and $7.2 billion, below the Wall Street consensus of $7.5 billion
The company, which laid off 3,000 workers in the fourth quarter, said the moves are among several cost-cutting measures that will save $1.2 billion annually.
One analyst, Tero Kuittinen of Global Crown Capital, went so far as to say the company may depart Asia and
even Europe, leaving it to concentrate on the Americas where the brand name is
strongest.