WASHINGTON, DC -- The US House Armed Services Committee last week voted overwhelmingly in favor of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2022, which includes tighter language over sourcing of printed circuit boards from adversarial nations.

FRANKFURT – “Europe must increase its capacities for the production of microelectronics chips in order to better avoid future supply bottlenecks and to be able to better survive as an industrial location in international competition.”

TAIPEI – Foxconn reported August revenues of NT$400 billion (US$14.5 billion), down 4.9% year-over-year and 4.3% sequentially.

ATLANTA – The cooling of sales of the electronics component supply chain is expected to moderate in September and through the end of 2021, according to ECIA’s August survey.

SON, THE NETHERLANDS – Electronics manufacturing services firm Neways has agreed to be acquired by an investment firm in an all-cash deal worth approximately €177.5 million.

WILLIAMSPORT, PA – Spartronics has acquired fellow EMS Inovar for an undisclosed amount. This is Spartronics’ second acquisition in the past nine months.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – “Global demand remains strong, but we are starting to see some early signs that demand might be slowing,” says Shawn DuBravac, Ph.D., chief economist, IPC, in the August Economic Outlook report. “Even with demand slowing, back orders remain high, and inventories remain low, which should keep manufacturers busy for the foreseeable future. Covid has become a sledgehammer to confidence.”

BREA, CA — Additive Circuits Technologies has acquired Bench 2 Bench Technologies, manufacturer of flexible PCBs for the medical device markets, for an undisclosed sum.

NEEDHAM, MA — Smartphone shipments are expected to grow 7.4% in 2021, reaching 1.37 billion units, followed by 3.4% growth in 2022 and 2023, respectively, according to International Data Corp. The 7.4% growth can be attributed to 13.8% growth from iOS devices, combined with 6.2% growth from Android.

NEEDHAM, MA – Global wearables shipments grew 32.3% year-over-year as volumes reached 114.2 million during the second quarter, according to International Data Corp. Despite early signs of slower consumer tech spending, purchases of wearable devices remained strong during the quarter as consumers once again ventured outdoors with the urge to track their health and activity.

SAN DIEGO – PCE-EDU announced a pair of upcoming classes for the Printed Circuit Engineering Professional curriculum, a new weeklong program on printed circuit engineering layout based on current technology trends.

SUZHOU, CHINA – Scanfil plans to expand its factory here, with an estimated investment of €6 million to more than double production space. The company expects to start construction in 2022.