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MINNEAPOLIS – CyberOptics will lay off 24 employees and consolidate manufacturing in Minneapolis, the company said.

MINNEAPOLIS -- CyberOptics today said fourth-quarter sales plunged 55% year-over-year to $6.7 million as the economic slump hit the inspection equipment maker.

CHICAGO -- A federal judge has tossed out the Sherman Act claims in a dispute between Hon Hai Precision Industry (Foxconn) and Molex Inc. over a patent licensing contract between the two companies for a connector used with audiovisual equipment, but has let the other claims stand.

Judge Harry D. Leinenweber of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled this week that Hon Hai had not alleged sufficient facts to state a plausible claim.

KAOHSIUNG, CHINA -- Hon Hai Group plans to hire some 500 software engineers by May for jobs at its new site in the Kaohsiung Software Technology Park.

Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou has reportedly pledged a minimum NT$1 billion in investments to create 3,000 jobs for software engineers in five years.

Permission was recently been granted to 79 companies to locate in the park.

LUXEMBOURG -- Elcoteq SE's December quarter net sales were 889.1 million euros, down 16% from a year ago but up 20% sequentially.

ATLANTA – Registration is now open for PCB East 2009, scheduled for April 27 - May 1 at the Westin Waltham-Boston in Waltham, MA.

Held annually on the East Coast since 1996, PCB East provides show attendees – PCB engineers, designers, fabricators and managers – with the most targeted conference in the PCB design industry.

PCB East 2009 highlights include a professional development certificate program with eight full-day tutorials; a three-day technical conference comprised of 24 workshops and half-day seminars; more new speakers – plus the return of numerous popular speakers; a one-day tabletop exhibition featuring the PCB industry's leading vendors; seven free technical sessions on Wednesday; Tuesday night's "Evening with Industry Experts," and other networking opportunities.

Attendees are urged to register by March 26 to receive up to a $100 discount on packages. Admission is free for the one-day tabletop exhibition, "Evening with Industry Experts," the exhibit floor reception and free technical sessions.

The show is sponsored by UP Media Group Inc., parent company of Circuits Assembly and Printed Circuit Design & Fab.

For more information or to register, visit www.pcbeast.com.

TAIPEI – MiTAC International reported preliminary January revenue of NT$3.5 billion, down 37% year-over-year.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- The ongoing slump in electronics demand has prompted iSuppli to further cut its growth expectations for EMS and ODM companies.

The research firm lowered its forecast to a 9.9% drop for 2009, to $270.8 billion. That's a revenue drop of nearly $30 billion from 2008.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn Electronics reported non-consolidated January revenues of $2.77 billion, down 12.1% year-over-year and 24.4% from December.

WASHINGTON -- Starting yesterday, certain electronics products intended for children will be exempted from the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act lead limit.

Under the CPSIA, the lead content in electronics products intended for children is required to be no greater than 600 parts per million. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has issued an interim rule because the Jan. 15 proposed rules would have been finalized after the Feb. 10 CPSIA compliance deadline.

The CPSC’s interim rule and the Jan. 15 proposed rules clarify that lead contained within electronics parts is inaccessible to children. The CPSC is recognizing that lead in a component part of electronics devices is not accessible to children because the lead is fully enclosed within a component that is itself within the device. Additionally, the CPSC has also exempted the lead content in electronics because it is currently not technologically feasible for certain parts of electronic devices to comply with the CPSIA lead limits of 600 ppm.

The Jan. 15 proposed rules are expected to become a final rule near the end of February 2009. For more information on CPSC regulations and guidance, visit http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html.

DANDERYD, SWEDEN – Note AB reported December quarter sales dropped 9.6% to $49.4 million. The operating loss was $5.7 million, and the operating margin was -11.6%.

For the quarter, the EBIT loss after one-time items was $6 million, and the after-tax loss was $4.4 million.

For 2008, the EMS company reported sales of $203.5 million, down 1.8% from a year ago. The operating loss was $452,000, down from a profit of $13.3 million. The operating loss includes restructuring-related costs of $9.5 million during the year. The operating margin amounted to -0.2%.

For the year, the EBIT loss was $1.71 million, down from a profit of $12.4 million. For the year, the loss after one-time items was $1.6 million, and the after-tax loss was SEK $4.4 million. Cash flow from operations was $3 million.

The company is cutting its Swedish labor force by 400, or just over 50%, mostly in the first half of 2009. Worldwide, Note employs more than 1200 staff.

The company is a worldwide Top 50 EMS company, according to Circuits Assembly.

BILLINGSTAD, NORWAY -- Top 40 EMS firm Kitron reported fourth-quarter revenue of $101.5 million, up 23% from last year. The pretax profits were $7.5 million, up 280% from 2007.