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.

ATLANTA - UP Media Group has issued a call for abstracts for PCB Design Conference East, the annual conference for PCB designers and engineers.

Presentations of 30 minutes, one or two hours, and half-day are sought. One- and two-day tutorials are also sought, organizers said.

For consideration, go to www.pcbeast.com for an online submission form, or e-mail conference chair Andy Shaughnessy, ashaughnessy@upmediagroup.com. Abstracts are due March 15.

Submissions should include a suggested course title, length, a short description of the target audience, a detailed 100- to 300-word abstract, and a short bio.

PCB East will be held Oct. 10-14, in Manchester, NH. The trade show is sponsored by Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture and Circuits Assembly.

SAN DIEGO -- Pulse, a large component manufacturer, today announced plans to increase prices of magnetic components for local area network, telecommunications, and power conversion applications due to rising costs of sub-components, consumables, energy and labor. 

ARMONK, NY - The groundbreaking sale of IBM's PC division to a Chinese OEM has passed a key federal review and is expected to go through.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has completed its review of the estimate $1.75 billion sale to Chinese PC maker Lenovo.