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TOKYO – Equipment sales this year are expected to be $30.91 billion, says SEMI.

The company’s forecast indicates, following 5.7% market growth in 2007, the equipment market will decline almost 28% in 2008.

HELSINKI – Elektrobit will lay off 170 staff worldwide as part of a restructuring plan aimed at saying €10 million per year.

EB will also cut certain programs and reduce some subcontracting.

The measures come on the heels of an October announcement in which the company said it would cut 42 jobs as part of a plan to cut costs by €30 million a year.

During the second half of 2008, EB will take up to €5 million in nonrecurring restructuring costs and write-offs related to the layoffs.

LOS ALTOS, CA – Despite deteriorating economic conditions, third-quarter global PC shipments grew 14.8% year-over-year. The double-digit unit gains were created by strong demand in developing countries and the continuing transition to laptop computers, says Henderson Ventures.

However, the full force of the credit crunch is expected to pound down fourth-quarter demand worldwide. As a result, global unit shipments growth will decelerate from 14.7% last year to 10.8% in 2008, says the firm.

Severe regional recessions will constrain PC markets to only a 3.8% gain in 2009, Henderson adds. Without WiMax, and netbooks, unit growth rates would be negative during 2009.

An economic rebound, along with reinvigorated replacement cycles and technological advancements such as USB 3.0, will help create a 13.6% jump in PC shipments during 2010.

The combination of small unit PC gains, along with declining average sale prices, will create a financial downdraft for computer equipment manufacturers next year. World production values will fall 2.3% after a 5.2% gain this year, says Henderson.

With the exception of China, all the major computer-manufacturing regions will experience negative growth in 2009. US output will fall 6.2% next year, followed by a muted 4.1% advance in 2010.

China will achieve only a 2.2% gain in 2009, followed by a 12.7% burst in 2010, says the research firm.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector failed to grow in November for the fourth consecutive month, and the overall economy contracted for the second consecutive month, says the Institute for Supply Management.

The November PMI registered 36.2%, down 2.7 points. New orders fell 4.3 percentage points to 27.9%. Production was 31.5%, down from 34.1%, while inventories dropped 5.2 points to 39.1%. Customer inventories remained at 55%, and the backlog of orders fell 2.5 points to 27%. A reading above 50% generally indicates growth.

"When comparing November to October, the PMI indicates a continuing rapid rate of contraction in manufacturing. New orders have contracted for 12 consecutive months, and are at the lowest level since June 1980 when the index registered 24.2%. Order backlogs have fallen to the lowest level since ISM began tracking the backlog of orders index in January 1993. The prices index at 25.5% indicates commodity prices continue to decline at a rapid rate. This is the lowest reading for the index since May 1949 when it registered 20.1%," said ISM spokesperson Norbert J. Ore.

SAN JOSE, CA – Worldwide sales of semiconductors declined 2.4% in October to $22.5 billion compared to the same month last year, says the Semiconductor Industry Association. October sales were down 2.1% sequentially.

TOKYO – AOI OEM Saki Corp. has signed a sale and purchase agreement with Schmidt Electronics Group to acquire a certain percentage stake in MacroScience Technology. No financial terms were disclosed.

BUDAPEST – Foxconn plans to lay off 1,500 workers in Hungary, more than half its workforce there, as a result of slipping orders, according to published reports.

After layoffs in Komarom and Debrecen, the firm will employ about 1,150 people near Budapest, Reuters said.

The economy in Hungary is expected to hit a recession in 2009 on dropping export demand and domestic consumption; the government predicts contraction for up to a year-and-a-half, according to reports.

Analysts say the country's 7.7% unemployment rate from August to October could reach more than 10% by the middle of 2009.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- The enforcement division of the Securities and Exchange Commission has notified Jabil Circuit it recommends no action on Jabil's historical stock option grant practices.

Following a roughly six-month investigation, the SEC Division of Enforcement issued a letter to Jabil advising the SEC not to take any enforcement action.

YOUNGSVILLE, OH -- SMT Resource Group, a seller of refurbished equipment, this week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company had recently moved from Texas to a former Flextronics site in Youngsville, where it leases 60,000 sq. ft.

TORONTO -- Research in Motion is considering outsourcing production to companies in the Pacific Rim, according to published reports.

DigiTimes is reporting RIM vice president for Asia-Pacific Norm Lo as saying RIM's leading position in the fast-growing smartphone market is behind the company's continued outsourcing.

RIM currently outsources some product build to Elcoteq, and according to DigiTimes sources also contracts with Huizho, China-based TCL, a $5.8 billion ODM that is also a business partner of Alcatel, Toshiba, Thomson and Philips Electronics.

TAIPEI -- Rumors are once again abounding that Foxconn Electronics is in talks to acquire Pegatron Technologies, the manufacturing arm of Asustek.

According to the reports, any deal would call for Foxconn to cede its retail and channel business in order to acquire Pegatron, the $9 billion contract assembly arm of Asustek.

There is tremendous overlap between Foxconn and Pegatron, from the respective company's manufacturing locations (Shenzhen; Shanghai; Taipei, Juarez, Mexico; and Czech Republic) to their top customers (HP).

SHANGHAI -- Nepcon China will relocate to the Shanghai World Expo Venue in 2011, the show producer announced today.

The WEV offers state-of-the-art infrastructure, meeting facilities, accessibility and hotel support, Reed Exhibitions asserted in a press release. The current site, the Everbright Convention and Exhibition Center, has been criticized for its electrical and dimensional liabilities and a lack of nearby hotels.

The show remains one of the largest for electronics manufacturing in the world, with an estimated 16,000 attendees.