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LAS VEGAS – Traffic appeared a bit light on the first day of Apex Tuesday, then ticked up on Wednesday, as suppliers focused on the attendees who did show and the array of new machines on the floor.

LAS VEGAS – Henkel today acquired National Starch in an all-cash deal worth 3.8 billion euros. Alan Syzdek of National Starch was named corporate senior vice president and head of the division, while president Pat Trippel was offered another position within Henkel.

LAS VEGAS -- Circuits Assembly magazine announced the winners of its 2008 Service Excellence Awards (SEAs) for Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS) providers and Electronics Assembly Equipment, Materials and Software suppliers. Circuits Assembly recognized the companies that received the highest customer service ratings, as judged by their own customers, during a ceremony at the IPC Apex trade show in Las Vegas.

LAS VEGAS -– Circuits Assembly magazine today announced the winners of its 2008 New Product Introduction Award for electronics assembly equipment, materials and software suppliers.

ATLANTA -- A shakeup at a major solder supplier could be in store this week, Circuits Assembly has learned.

A major solder vendor is determining the fate of its president, with a decision expected by April 3.

HIALEAH, FL -- Simclar reported fourth-quarter losses of $64,088, on sales of $34.7 million, reversing a profit of $949,000 on $33.2 million in revenue last year.

For the year, the EMS company reported profits fell 17% to $2.4 million, despite a $20.4 million jump in revenue, to $136.4 million.

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA — Selective soldering equipment maker RPS Automation LLC today reported "strong customer growth," including recent installations at Saturn Electronics & Engineering, Creation Technologies, EI Microcircuits, P3C, Circle Prime Manufacturing, Lectronix and Saline Lectronics.

Recent global customer wins came in Mexico, Canada, France, China and the Middle East, the company said.

“Last summer’s restructuring and addition of capital, management and investor support is really starting to
pay dividends,” stated Reed Gaither, CEO of RPS Automation.

ST. LOUIS -- Northrop Grumman awarded LaBarge Inc. a $3.5 million contract to continue to produce electronics equipment for the AN/AAQ-24(V) NEMESIS Directional Infrared Countermeasure (DIRCM) system. LaBarge has worked on the program for nearly a decade.

Production at LaBarge's Tulsa, OK., facility is expected to begin in April and continue through June, the EMS company said.

LOUISVILLE, KY -- Sypris Solutions named John Walsh president of its wholly owned subsidiary Sypris Electronics.

He will report to Jeffrey Gill, president and chief executive of Sypris Solutions.

TAIPEI -- Qisda Corp., the company formerly known as BenQ, is preparing to sell a rougly 13% stake of the company to a private equity investor for about $164 million.

The deal is close to being done, a company spokeswoman said over the weekend, but details on the investor were not provided.

SAN JOSE – Worldwide sales of semiconductors in February were $20.44 billion, up 1.5% year-over-year, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported today. Sales fell 4.9% sequentially, in line with normal seasonal patterns for the industry.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- The worldwide market for consumer electronics products continues to be strong and will continue to expand through 2011, reports research firm In-Stat. Shipments of PCs and peripherals, traditional consumer electronics products and communications products will grow from 2.7 billion units in 2007 to 3.1 billion units in 2011, the firm says.

“Traditional consumer electronics devices continue to be led by the conversion from analog to digital television,” said Brian O’Rourke, In-Stat analyst. “PCs will maintain their strong growth pattern with a compound annual growth rate of 9.7% through 2011, with growth being driven by increased sales in Africa, the Middle East, South America, and Asia/Pacific regions.”

In-Stat found:

India and China are driving the mobile phone handset segment, as low-cost handsets have been developed to meet the market requirements in less developed countries.
Asia/Pacific and Rest-of-World (including Africa, the Middle East and South America) regions will lead in overall annual growth rates.
PCs shipments will be driven by a continued transition from desktop to mobile units.