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STOCKHOLM – SMT equipment manufacturer Mydata has acquired its German distributor Royonic.

SHENZHEN – Software provider Valor Computerized Systems Ltd. has established a technological partnership with Guilin University of Electronic Technology in China.

Under the terms of the agreement, Valor will provide GUET with software, including DFM, SMT programming, optimization, program conversion and process engineering, and GUET will bring Valor software into its educational programs, such as mandatory and elective courses in undergraduate and postgraduate studies.

In addition, a GUET-Valor Training Room for Electronic Manufacturing Software Application will be established for vocational training and open technological training courses.

No other financial terms of the agreement were disclosed.

LAS VEGAS – IPC has issued a call for abstracts for next year's Apex. The event will take place in Las Vegas, March 31 - April 2.

Expert presentations are being sought on all relevant design, PCP fabrication and manufacturing topics. Submissions in the areas of new materials and environmental concerns are especially encouraged. The program committee will choose only abstracts that describe significant results from experiments, emphasize new techniques or discuss trends and test results.

The deadline for abstracts is July 18.

For more information on submitting a conference abstract and/or course proposal, visit www.GoIPCShows.org/CFP.

For information on teaching a course, contact Michelle Michelotti, IPC coordinator of professional development, at MichelleMichelotti@ipc.org.

RENO – Market research firm DataBeans Inc. predicts the worldwide optoelectronics annual market will grow to $17.4 billion in 2008, up 8.6% year-over-year.

The firm expects a CAGR of 12% between 2008 and 2013, when the market will reach $31.2 billion.

Databeans predicts global optoelectronics revenue for lighting and other consumer applications will grow at a CAGR of 14% during the next five years, followed by the medical market, with a growth rate of 13%, and automotive, with growth of 12%.

STAMFORD, CT – Gartner Inc. has raised its 2008 worldwide IC forecast from 3.4% to 4.6%. The firm now says the IC industry is projected to reach $287 billion this year.

SAN JOSE, CA – Worldwide sales of semiconductors in April were $21.2 billion, up 5.9% year-over-year, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today.

STAMFORD, CT – According to a recent global Gartner survey of 1,000 CIOs in February and March, Asia-Pacific CIOs expect their budgets to increase 5.98% in 2008, while European CIOs expect a 3.85% increase.

U.S. CIOs, however, only expect their budgets to increase 2.3%.

The average expected increase for all CIOs is 3.3%.

“The reason we believe IT budget growth will remain stable globally at 3.3% is because Europe and Asia-Pacific are experiencing accelerated and additional growth,” Gartner analyst Mark McDonald said. “The current economic conditions when viewed from outside the US are seen as a US-only phenomenon.”

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Despite the rapid expansion of the global flat-panel display business, the market for display driver ICs used in these screens is expected to undergo a deceleration in revenue growth during the coming years, according to iSuppli Corp.

Unit shipment growth for display drivers will slow to 15.1% in 2008, down from 26.2% in 2007. Annual growth will average about 11% from 2009 to 2011.

Thanks to the explosion of LCD and plasma television sales, the display-driver IC market has grown rapidly during the past several years, as more consumers and businesses have sought to replace their old CRT-based displays with newer flat-panel sets, says iSuppli.

However, while the panels continue making steady progress in expanding the overall size of the display market and increasing their market share, the display driver IC market story is one of rapid change in the face of pricing pressures and advances in panel technology, according to the research firm.

iSuppli estimates the global display driver market grew by 26.2% to reach 6.9 billion units in 2007, up from 5.5 billion units in 2006. Such growth was chiefly the result of two market areas: LCD-TV and notebook PC displays, both of which grew their end application units dramatically in the past year. Another major factor was the transition away from passive STN-type LCD displays and to active matrix TFT-LCD displays in many mobile and handheld products, such as mobile handsets and GPS navigation units. Such displays require larger numbers of display drivers, says iSuppli.

But while overall unit growth was strong, global revenue was up only 10.2% to reach $8.8 billion in 2007, up from $7.99 billion in 2006. Revenue growth was limited by the continued downward ASPs for the driver ICs, caused by fierce competition among display driver companies and by decreasing panel prices, factors that exerted pricing pressure on all suppliers to the panel manufacturers.

“A troublesome development for the display driver IC market is the fact that the panel pricing pressure – and thus driver IC pricing pressure – is not expected to abate anytime soon, as even more capacity comes on line during the next few years,” said Randy Lawson, senior analyst for digital TV and display electronics for iSuppli.

“Even more troublesome is the fact that many large-panel applications, which represent the largest overall volume market for display drivers, are moving rapidly to adopt multichannel drivers, and in some cases are integrating drivers into the panels themselves.

“This use of multichannel devices reduces the number of discrete drivers required per panel, putting a serious crimp on the growth prospects for large panel drivers. Coupling the declining driver IC ASP with the increasing usage of multichannel drivers in televisions, notebooks and monitors, one can see that the overall growth rate for display driver ICs is slowing dramatically.”

But, new applications and products are continuing to add growth in end markets, with devices like DPFs, multi-touch panels and 3D displays, all of which should help continue to expand the display market, iSuppli believes.

Advancements in OLED displays eventually should pave the way for larger – and thus higher volumes of – OLED-TV displays, which could dramatically expand the market for OLED drivers, says iSuppi. Meanwhile, display drivers are advancing to new types of interfaces being promoted by IC and panel manufacturers.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector failed to grow in May for the fourth consecutive month, as the PMI was 49.6%, up only one percentage point from April, says the Institute for Supply Management.

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Cookson Electronics is launching its Zero halogen initiative for its Alpha branded products to assist in the selection of materials that have either zero halogen content or trace levels based on published standards.

The byproducts of the incomplete combustion of circuit boards and electronic products that contain halogens can include dioxin and furan-like compounds and acidic or corrosive gasses, says Cookson.

“Halogenated compounds can be found in printed circuit boards, solder masks, mold compounds, connectors and other products often found in electronic products,” said Bruce Moloznik, VP global marketing, Cookson Electronics. “Given the rising concern regarding the potential human health and environmental dangers posed by halogens, we have initiated an ongoing process to certify Alpha products that have zero halogen content and those considered halogen-free according to published IPC, IEC and JPCA standards.”

SAN JOSE, CA – Spending on worldwide fabs equipping is expected to show declines of about 17% in 2008, as more companies are forced to postpone fab projects because of global economic uncertainties, says SEMI.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – iSuppli Corp. has trimmed its long-term growth forecast for global electronics contract manufacturing revenue to 8% during the 2006 to 2013 timeframe, down from its previous outlook of a 9.3% expansion.