TOKYO --  Hitachi High-Technologies will sell the sales operations of its electronic component placement business to Yamaha Motor Co. and close its equipment development subsidiary, the company's board has decided. The firm cited lagging sales for its decision to exit the business.

ROLLING MEADOWS, ILL – BEST is offering one-hour webinars to discuss changes in the recently released revisions to the industry's two primary soldering and assembly acceptance standards.

SHANXI, CHINA – Foxconn will invest $814 million into its northern China factories to aid in the production of electric vehicles, according to reports.

WASHINGTON – Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $28.1 billion in July, the industry’s highest-ever monthly sales total, said the Semiconductor Industry Association. Global sales for the month were up 2.4% sequentially and up 9.9% year-over-year, the trade group added.

WESTLAKE, OH — Nordson has acquired Dima Group, manufacturer of conformal coating, dispensing and surface mount technology equipment for the global electronics assembly market.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC has released the F revisions of IPC J-STD-001, Requirements for Soldered Electrical and Electronic Assemblies, and IPC-A-610, Acceptability of Electronic Assemblies.

HOUSTON -- Foxconn is auctioning all equipment from its site here, which closed earlier this year.

DROGHEDA, LOUTH, IRELAND -- Rexxam will close its printed circuit board assembly plant here by year-end, leaving 70 employees out of work.

EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS – Neways Electronics International recorded net revenue of EUR 133.6 million in the first half of 2014, up 1.7% year-over-year.

KIVU, DRC – The iTSCi Programme for conflict-free mineral traceability announced implementations in North and South Kivu.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — North American printed circuit board shipments in July were down 2.3% year-over-year. Year-to-date shipments are down 0.6% compared to the same period last year, says IPC. Sequentially, PCB shipments were down 13%.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Factory revenue in the worldwide server market increased 2.5% year-over-year to $12.6 billion in the second quarter of 2014, says the International Data Corp.