SCOTTSDALE, AZ -- Industry-wide R&D expenditures grew 0.5% to a record $56.4 billion in 2015, but the growth rate was the slowest since 2009. 

NEENAH, WI – Plexus reported fiscal first quarter revenue ended Jan. 2 of $616.7 million, down 7.2% year-over-year and 7.8% sequentially.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – A recent IPC wage rate and salary study shows, of 162 US and Canadian EMS and OEM facilities, wage and salary budgets increased at an average rate of 2.5% for hourly employees and 2% for salaried and management employees.

NANJING, CHINA -- Inventec Appliances has completed an expansion which doubled handset production capacity at its factory here.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Spending on IT infrastructure products for deployment in cloud environments will grow at a compound annual rate of 15.5% to $54.3 billion by 2019.

BATH, WILTSHIRE, UK – New guidance from the European Chemicals Agency last month changes companies’ obligations to inform customers about substances covered by the REACH Directive, and will be the subject of a pair of webinars later this month.

BOXBORO, MA -- A leading SMT equipment company will host a local demonstration and open house here next month.

STAMFORD, CT -- Worldwide IT spending is forecast to total $3.54 trillion dollars in 2016, up 0.6% over 2015, according to a Gartner study released today.

PUNE, INDIA – The electronics conformal coating market is estimated to reach $2.4 billion by 2020, a CAGR of 6% between 2015 and 2020, says MarketsandMarkets.

HAMPSHIRE UK -- Annual revenues from commercial drones sales are expected to reach $481 million this year, up 84% over last year, new research says.

ESPOO, FINLAND -- A new roll-to-roll overmolding manufacturing process turns components into durable electronics products such as wearable sports solutions, toys and, for even household appliances equipped with an overmolded solar cell, a new report says.

PATHUMTANI, THAILAND -- SVI Public Co. has acquired Seidel Electronics, an Austria-based EMS company with plants in Austria, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovenia.