TORONTO -- SMTC today reported a 14% year-over-year drop in revenue, citing seasonality and severe winter weather affecting an industrial sector customer. The net loss for the March quarter was $1.1 million, an improvement over a $7.7 million loss in the fourth quarter but down from a profit of $1.17 million last year.

SAN MATEO, CA – Worldwide tablet plus 2-in-1 shipments were 50.4 million units in the first quarter of 2014, up 3.9% year-over-year, and down 35.7% sequentially, says IDC.

SAN JOSE – Flextronics reported fourth-quarter net sales were $6.7 billion, up 27% year-over-year, above previous guidance.

NEWARK, NY – Higher revenues helped lower the net loss at IEC Electronics, which reported second-quarter fiscal 2014 revenue of $34.8 million, up 3.3% year-over-year. The EMS firm posted a net loss of $569,000 for the period ended Mar. 28, compared to a net loss of $1.1 million in the same quarter last year.

HAWTHORNE, CA – OSI Systems reported fiscal third-quarter revenues ended Mar. 31 of $204 million, up 3% year-over-year.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — Total North American printed circuit board shipments increased 4.8% year-over-year in March, with year-to-date shipments down 0.8%, says IPC.

WASHINGTON -- A pair of Securities and Exchange Commission commissioners yesterday called for a halt on conflict minerals reporting, citing First Amendment concerns identified by a circuit court.

PALO ALTO, CA AND TAIPEI — HP and Foxconn today announced a joint venture agreement to create a new line of cloud-optimized servers specifically targeting service providers. The move marks the latest agreement between the computer OEM and one of its largest manufacturing partners. 

ATLANTA, GA – UP Media Group today rolled out the conference program for the annual PCB West 2014. This year’s conference is the largest yet, featuring more than 60 presentations, half-day workshops and full-day tutorials, plus the complete IPC Designers Council Basic and Advanced Designer Certification classes.

LOS ANGELES -- Ducommun reported first-quarter sales at its EMS business unit slipped 4.9% year-over-year to $98.1 million on slower defense spending. The DLT segment's operating income for the quarter was down 11.4% to $7 million, while EBITDA slid $500,000 to $12.1 million.

NEW YORK -- The global consumer electronics market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 6.7% from 2014 to 2018, according to a new report. Innovative technical developments in the sector have led to a new "age of convergence," says  Reportlinker, wherein entirely different streams of digital-based audio, video and information technology unite and merge, removing entry hurdles across various markets and the whole industry.

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM – The deadline for EU member states to transpose the new WEEE Recast Directive 2012/19/EU into national WEEE Regulations has now passed.

Bulgaria, Denmark, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands and the UK have transposed the WEEE Recast Directive so far.