FRAMINGHAM, MA – Worldwide PC shipments are expected to fall 6.2% in 2015, says International Data Corp.

LYON, FRANCE – “The semiconductor industry is facing a new era in which device scaling and cost reduction will not continue on the path they followed for the past few decades, with Moore’s Law in its foundation.”

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Worldwide factory revenue from the sale of servers increased 17.2% year-over-year to $12.8 billion in the first quarter, the fourth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Worldwide shipments of tablets and 2-in-1 devices are forecast to reach 221.8 million units in 2015, down 3.8% from 2014, according to IDC.

WILMINGTON, MA – The Boston SMTA Chapter is holding a technical tutorial June 3 at Textron Systems here.

WAREHAM, DORSET, ENGLAND -- CSM Electronics and IO Electronics have officially announced a merger after months of negotiations in a bid to become one of the UK’s largest players in the electronics contract manufacturing arena.

KAUNAS, LITHUANIA -- Kitron opened a $7.63 million production facility and engineering services center here today, the EMS firm announced.

ZHUHAI -- PEI-Genesis has opened a 54,000 sq. ft. connector assembly facility here as part of the company’s strategic plan to expand into new geographies.

TAIPEI – Foxconn aims to develop 10 to 12 facilities in India by 2020, says chairman Terry Gou, according to reports.

MALMO, SWEDEN -- Scandinavia's two largest EMS companies could be headed for a merger as Scanfil Oyj today announced a public offer of SEK443 million ($52.6 million) for PartnerTech.

PartnerTech’s board signaled its approval of the offering following the assent of the company's two largest shareholders, which represent a cumulative 65.9% of the firm's shares, expressed their support. 

Combined, the companies would have overall revenue of nearly $500 million, good for a top 40 position on the CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY Top 50. Scanfil had 2014 sales of 214 million euros ($235 million), while PartnerTech's revenue was 2,239 krona ($266 million). PartnerTech has struggled with profitability, however, and has an aggregate net loss over the past four years, due in large part to its money-losing Metal Precision Division.

The offer represents a premium of approximately 58.6% above PartnerTech’s volume-weighted average trading price at Nasdaq Stockholm over the 90 calendar days ended May 22, and a premium of 27% over the closing price for the PartnerTech that day. 

The 30-day offer is conditional upon approval of at least 90% of PartnerTech's outstanding shares and other regulatory approvals.

Scanfil's board said it expects annual cost-savings through the merger of a minimum of 5 million euros. It did not rule out facility closings or dispositions, but said it does currently not foresee any material changes to PartnerTech’s management and employees.

Malmo-based PartnerTech has 10 EMS plants across six countries and three continents, while Sieve, Finland-based Scanfil has eight in China and Europe. 

BANNOCKBURN, IL – A new market research study on military and aerospace electronics suggests the costs of materials will force industry to go lead-free.

SAN JOSE — North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers posted worldwide 90-day average orders of $1.57 billion in April, up 9% over  a year ago.