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BUCKS, UK – The Smart Group recognized nine members as Fellowship recipients for extraordinary contributions to the association.

Recipients included Peter Allgood of Allgood Technology; Iain Braddock of MBDA UK; Steve Eglington and Ingmar Grewar of PEM Professional Electronic Manufacturing South Africa; Dr. Chris Hunt of National Physical Laboratory; Naim Kapadia of JJS Electronics; David Llewellyn of DEK; Martin Tarr of Smart Group Scotland, and Rex Waygood of Hansatech EMS.

The awards were presented at the Smart Group’s 25th Anniversary Conference.

In presenting the awards, honorary life vice president Peter Swanson said, “Smart Fellowships are awarded to individuals to thank them for their active past year. The list includes Smart members who are regular attendees or extraordinary contributors to the association’s seminars, forums and events. They do not have to be a committee member to be a valued Smart participant. Being a regular attendee, asking questions or using the benefits of membership is just as important. These activities inspire the spread of technology throughout the member’s company, the Smart Group and the industry itself.”

TAIPEI – Compal Electronics expects fourth-quarter notebook shipments to increase 10% sequentially, a company executive said.

The firm shipped 10.6 million notebooks in the three months ended Sept. 30.

Compal’s new forecast for laptop shipments this year is 36.5 million units.

Compal is the second-largest contract notebook computer maker globally by revenue, behind Quanta Computer.

ARLINGTON, VA – Consumer confidence in the overall economy improved, while confidence in technology and consumer electronics fell slightly in October, according to the Consumer Electronics Association and CNET.

The CEA-CNET Index of Consumer Expectations climbed five points to 174.1 in October.

The ICE, which measures consumer expectations about the broader economy, is up 10.4 points from this time last year, and has climbed in three of the last six months.

“Consumers were met with positive news regarding economic recovery this month,” said Anne Claudio, vice president of research at CBS Interactive. “The stock market rallied to levels not reached in years, while optimism is being expressed by economic leaders that the end of the recession is near.”

The CEA-CNET Index of Consumer Technology Expectations declined four points this month. The ICTE, which measures expectations for buying CE and spending more on CE products and services, is up 3.1 points year-over-year.

ST. LOUIS -- Top 35 EMS firm LaBarge today reported September quarter sales fell 7.4% year-over-year to $63.2 million.

NORTH BILLERICA, MA -- BTU International pared its third-quarter net loss as sales rose 15% sequentially to $12.4 million.

ST. LOUIS -- Viasystems announced third-quarter net sales of $121.1 million, up marginally sequentially but down 38% from 2008.

NEENAH, WI – Plexus announced fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $393 million, up 4% sequentially and down 17.4% year-over-year.

ELKHART, IN -- CTS Corp. today announced third-quarter revenues of $126.6 million, up 5% sequentially as its EMS business remained flat.

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA -- Key Tronic reported fiscal first quarter revenue of $41.3 million, down 14.3% from last year.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Despite fears that buyers are inflating semiconductor purchases in order to guarantee adequate supplies, there’s no indication that chip purchasers are engaging in double-booking, a leading research firm said today.

RANCHO CUCAMONGA, CA — Aqueous Technologies has rolled out a full-service contract defluxing and cleanliness testing service in its facility here.