ANSEONG, SOUTH KOREA -- A massive fire has laid waste to a printed circuit board factory here that was building multilayer boards for Samsung's next-generation smartphone. The fire also caused millions of dollars in damage to equipment and took hundreds of firefighters some six hours to contain, according to media reports.

TAIPEI -- Hon Hai (Foxconn) will hire up to 15,000 new workers this year, primarily in Taiwan, according to published reports.  The new hires won't be for the company's traditional manufacturing positions, however, a company spokesman told Reuters today.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American printed circuit board shipments decreased 7.5% year-over-year in January. Orders came in at 3.7% below the same month last year, says IPC.

SAN MATEO, CA – The total tablet market, inclusive of both tablets and 2-in-1 devices, is forecast to grow 19.4% in 2014, down from a growth rate of 51.6% in 2013, says IDC.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nortech Systems today reported net sales of $29.3 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 17% over 2012. Net income slipped 12.7% to $241,000.

LAGUNA, PHILIPPINES — Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. today announced that fourth-quarter revenues rose 19.1% to $198 million. Net income for the period was $745,000, up from $400,000 a year ago.

CANTON, MA – Two Boston area component assembly and their parent company filed for bankruptcy this week. MassMicroElectronics, a printed circuit board design and assembler, and AD-MicroAssembly, a design and component assembler, could be liquidated as a result, according to published reports.

EGHAM, UK — Worldwide sales of tablets to end-users reached 195.4 million units in 2013, up 68% year-over-year. Growth was fueled by the low-end smaller screen tablet market, and first time buyers; this led Android to become the No. 1 tablet operating system (OS), with 62% of the market, Gartner said.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Worldwide PC shipments fell 9.8% in 2013, the most severe contraction on record, according to IDC. Worse, shipments are expected to decline another 6.1% in 2014 as the market continues to lose share to tablets and smartphones.

CHICAGO – Ellsworth Adhesives and Henkel are hosting a free technical workshop on lighting assembly- and board-level solutions for LED and lighting manufacturers here Apr. 9.

COLCHESTER, UK – Nordson Dage opened a research and development facility here, which has doubled the firm’s R & D space.

WASHINGTON — Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose 8.8% year-over-year in January, marking the industry’s highest-ever January sales total and the largest year-to-year increase in nearly three years. The 90-day moving average sales reached $26.28 billion in January, the Semiconductor Industry Association today announced, down 1.4% from December on normal seasonal trends.