KENT, UK – April semiconductor sales were up 15.6% sequentially, says Future Horizons. March numbers were down 7.6%.

April showed the best sequential growth since the same month in 1955, according to the research firm’s recent report.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – Jabil Circuit Inc. today reported fiscal third-quarter 2009 net revenue of $2.6 billion, down 16.1% year-over-year.

Net loss for the quarter was $28.8 million compared to net income of $38.4 million for the same quarter last year.

EL SEGUNDO – First-quarter global PC shipments amounted to 66.5 million units, down 8.1% year-over-year, and a 14.4% drop sequentially, says iSuppli Corp.

STAMFORD, CT – Electronic equipment markets should begin a recovery in the fourth quarter of 2009, enabling the electronics industry to enter into a sustained recovery in the second half of 2010, with a reacceleration in sales in 2011, according to Gartner Inc.

ST. LOUIS – LaBarge Inc. has been awarded a $2.3 million contract from Northrop Grumman Corp. to continue to produce electronic equipment for the AN/AAQ-24(V) Directional Infrared Countermeasure system.

ESPOO, FINLAND – Nokia Siemens Networks has agreed to acquire certain assets from Nortel.

SAN JOSE – With 155 billion ICs produced, the value of the worldwide IC packaging market was $32.7 billion in 2008, reports Electronic Trend Publications.

BERLIN – The global semiconductor market is expected to decline 21.6% on an annualized basis to $194.8 billion in 2009, according to World Semiconductor Trade Statistics.

ST. PAUL, MN – SUSS MicroTec will distribute 3M’s wafer support system equipment for temporary wafer bonding of ultrathin wafers required for 3-D packaging.

DUBLIN, IRELAND -- US electronics connector sales reached $4.2 billion in 2008, a new research report claims.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Worldwide semiconductor revenue in the first quarter fell 33.8% year-over-year to $44.3 billion, according to research released yesterday. However, it could mark the bottom of the decline, iSuppli said.

SAN JOSE -- North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers reported the 90-day moving average orders rose 16% sequentially in to $288.5 million.