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SUZHOU -- SMT equipment OEM Essemtec today announced the opening of a customer training and demo center here. The site, which opened earlier this year, is equipped with multiple lines of production equipment and is operated by Essemtec’s local distributor Smart Technology Ltd.

BERWYN, PA – Tyco Electronics said it has finalized two previously announced sales, netting about $470 million.

The firm sold its radio frequency components and subsystem unit to Cobham Defense Electronic Systems and its automotive radar sensors unit to Autoliv Inc.

The sales closed Friday, the company said.

FORT WORTH, TX î º TTI Inc. has acquired the Mateleco Group, a connector distributor with six European locations.

“This acquisition will establish TTI and Mateleco as the number one distributors in both passives and connectors in France,” said TTI president and CEO Paul Andrews.

Mateleco will operate independently as a wholly owned subsidiary of TTI. The management team will remain in place with Claude Joly as president and Bernard Le Jeune and Bernard Franchet as corporate officers. Joly will report to Gene Conahan, TTI Europe’s president.

No financial terms of the agreement were disclosed.

SURPRISE, AZ – Les Hymes, known industry-wide for his knowledge of cleaning and electronics assembly, has died.

Hymes spent much of his career as an SMT specialist with GE Medical Systems and later Plexus. He was one of the first to transition into consulting, and spent nearly two decades working with such companies as Boeing.

In 1991, he authored Cleaning Printed Wiring Assemblies in Today's Environment, and contributed chapters to several other books, including Electronic Materials Handbook.

He was a Circuits Assembly columnist for several years.

Hymes was a dedicated workshop presenter and speaker, and received many industry honors through the years, including the IPC Presidents Award in 1988.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American PWB shipments rose 3.5% year-over-year in August, while orders fell 15.5% compared to 2007, IPC said.

Year to date, shipments were up 5.6% and orders were up 1%. Sequentially, combined shipments for August were up 5.2%, while bookings were up 2%. The book-to-bill ratio was 0.95.

For the month, rigid PWB shipments were up 2.5% and bookings were down 14.9% year-over-year. Year to date, rigid PWB shipments are up 5.3% and bookings are up 1.7%. Sequentially, shipments increased 5.8% and bookings increased 3.9%. The book-to-bill ratio increased slightly to 0.95.

Flex circuit shipments in August were up 18.9% and orders were down 24.3% compared to 2007. Year to date, flex shipments were up 9% and orders were down 8.7%. Compared to the previous month, shipments were down 2.2% and bookings declined 21.5%. The book-to-bill ratio fell to 0.90.

In August, 76% of the total PWB shipments reported were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 76% of rigid PCB and 84% of flexible circuit shipments, according to IPC survey participants.

For the month, the flex circuit manufacturers in IPC’s survey sample indicated bare boards accounted for approximately 62% of their shipment value. The remainder includes assemblies and other value-added services.

IPC does not disclose the number of companies that participate in the survey, making it difficult to assess whether the data are representative of the industry at large.

COVENTRY, UK – The fifth Trade and Investment TechnologyWorld conference will take place Nov. 17 and 18 at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry, UK.

Smart Group and Electronics Knowledge Transfer Network will organize the seminar Breakthroughs – Bending the Design Rules! Technologies to be covered include energy harvesting, solder-free electronics assemblies, design and product responsibility, heat dissipation in electronic design, flexible interconnection markets, and system-in-package.

Speakers include Joseph Fjelstad, Verdant Electronics; Thomas Ahrens, Fraunhofer Institute; Dr. Craig Hillman, DfR Solutions; David Pedder, TWI; and Markys Cain, NPL.

For more information, visit www.technologyworld08.com.

HOUSTON – Flextronics will lay off up to 60 workers here as part of a minor restructuring, according to published reports.

The EMS company plans to complete the reductions by mid November, the Houston Business Journal said. The workers, who have been notified of the pending changes, include engineers and administrative personnel.

NAMPA, ID – MPC Corp. is being sued for allegedly failing to pay nearly $350,000 worth of computer parts delivered to a subsidiary.

In a court filing, LSI Corp. of Pennsylvania alleges MPC has refused to pay a past due amount of $348,673 for the parts. The parts were purchased between December 2007 and April 2008, the suit claims.

MPC acquired the subsidiary, now known as MPC-Nashville, from Gateway last year. It has since announced the transfer of those manufacturing operations to Flextronics in Juarez, Mexico.

LSI is suing for breach of contract, account stated and unjust enrichment. MPC has declined to comment.

Last month, MPC Computers was sued by Prism Pointe Technologies for allegedly failing to pay $732,287 worth of bills. That case is pending.

TAIPEI – Warren Buffett is considering up to a 10% stake in BYD Co. Ltd., a major China-based electronics and auto parts manufacturer.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – The Portable Navigation Device's days of navigation domination are numbered, as mobile-handset alternatives gain in popularity during the next few years, says iSuppli Corp.

In 2007, PNDs accounted for about half of all navigation device shipments, with the remainder divided among automotive in-dash systems, smart phones and mobile handsets. However, by 2010, PNDs’ share of shipments will decline to 35% and then to 23% in 2013, says the research firm.

“PNDs have flourished in an environment with little competition during the last four years,” said Richard Robinson, principal analyst at iSuppli. “Being less expensive and easier to obtain than in-dash systems, and much easier to use than mobile handsets, PNDs have been the navigation product of choice for global consumers. However, there will be a significant cannibalization of the PND market by low-cost in-vehicle solutions and wireless handsets in the coming years.”

In 2011, navigation-enabled mobile handsets will grow to account for 36% of total navigation system shipments, for the first time surpassing PNDs as the highest-volume platform. PND shipments will account for only 30% of the total market during that same year as a result of the fast growth of the other platforms, says iSuppli.

The PND market is ending its fast-growth phase and moving into a stage of maturity according to the firm. After achieving growth of 123.7% in 2007, global PND unit shipment increases will slow to 43% in 2008 and to 23.5% in 2009.

Meanwhile, shipments of navigation-enabled mobile handsets will rise 91.4% in 2008 and 70.6% in 2009. Shipments of navigation-enabled smart phones will increase 66% in 2008 and 51.6% in 2009.

While the PND market will still generate significant sales opportunities for PND makers and their suppliers over the next few years, the industry is likely to undergo consolidation, with many companies expected to leave the market, predicts iSuppli.

“Strong PND price erosion witnessed in 2007 and 2008 will lead to consolidation in the sector in 2008 and 2009, with smaller vendors exiting the market because they will be unable to achieve the volumes and economies of scale needed to operate profitably at these price points,” Robinson said. “The survivors will be those companies that successfully build economies of scale in the supply chain and that achieve reductions in engineering, hardware and silicon costs in order to keep pace with rapidly declining prices,” Robinson said.

The under-penetrated market for in-vehicle navigation continues to be the main growth driver for PND sales. However, other factors are contributing to continued PND sales growth, including the decline in the average price per unit that has lowered the barrier to ownership for a significant consumer demographic, which is typically price sensitive.

Until now, the traditional tier-one suppliers for automotive electronics companies have dominated the in-dash navigation system market. However, this is expected to change as carmakers seek less costly approaches to vehicle navigation.

“The push by vehicle OEMs to roll out lower-cost in-dash navigation systems will pose a significant threat to the existing tier-one electronics suppliers around 2012, potentially opening up the market to competition from non-traditional OEM hardware and software manufacturers such as Garmin and TomTom, or even handset makers like Nokia and Samsung,” Robinson said.