SINGAPORE – Flex has acquired Farm Design, which provides development and design services for medical device and diagnostics companies.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall 10% in the fourth quarter, with shipments down 10.3% in 2015, says International Data Corp.

STAMFORD, CT – Gartner estimates 1.6 billion connected things will be used by smart cities in 2016, an increase of 39% from 2015.

WOKING, SURREY, ENGLAND – Alpha Assembly Solutions has opened a new European headquarters here.

SAN JOSE — The 90-day moving average worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment bookings fell 7% year-over-year to $8.7 billion in the third quarter.

TAIPEI – The total value of the virtual reality market (including hardware and software) will reach $6.7 billion in 2016 and $70 billion in 2020, says TrendForce.

DUBLIN -- Sales of surface mount technology process and inspection equipment in the Asia-Pacific region are forecast to grow at a 7.06% CAGR from 2014 to 2019.

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- MIT engineers have designed what may be the Band-Aid of the future: a sticky, stretchy, gel-like material that can incorporate temperature sensors, LED lights, and other electronics, as well as tiny, drug-delivering reservoirs and channels.

WASHINGTON — Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $29 billion in October, up 1.9% sequentially but down 2.5% year-over-year.

SON, THE NETHERLANDS – Neways Electronics plans to restructure its Micro Electronics division operations in Echt and China as part of a cost-cutting move.

MILWAUKEE, WI — After some dips and swells in recent years between salary increases and decreases, salaries for quality professionals are up again, this time with the largest percentage increase year-over-year since 2007, according to the American Society for Quality's 29th annual Salary Survey. 

FRAMINGHAM, MA – 2015 will be the first full year of single-digit worldwide smartphone growth, IDC predicts, citing slower demand outside North America.