COLORADO SPRINGS, CO -- Photo Stencil employees have returned to work at their headquarters here after smoke levels from local wild fires receded.

PHOENIX -- Avnet is seeing pricing and lead times stabilizing in analog, DSP, microcontrollers and power components, the distributor said today.

WASHINGTON -- The US government is seeking public submissions on combating intellectual property infringement.

GUANGZHOU -- 3CEMS has launched design services for customers requiring help ranging from research and development to end-product builds.

STAMFORD, CT — Worldwide wafer fab equipment spending is on pace to fall 8.9% to $33 billion in 2012 on lower demand for logic production gear.

JAVA, INDONESIA – Foxconn plans to construct a large manufacturing site in Indonesia, according to published reports.

YAVNE, ISRAEL – Orbotech revised its revenue guidance for full-year 2012 to the range between $430 million and $450 million from $500 million.

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA – ACE Production Technologies has opened a selective soldering process development lab here.

The new lab assists in establishing optimized selective soldering processes for circuit assemblies.

“We have a complete range of selective soldering systems, preheaters, fluxers, and diagnostic instruments, including the MUST III Wetting Balance Tester from Gen3 Systems. We also have x-ray equipment and other associated diagnostic resources that we can bring to bear to help our customers develop optimized processes for optimum throughput, yields, consistent quality, and consistent profitability,” said Alan Cable, president. “In addition, we have our automated LTS lead tinning system, and manual MLTS, which are also part of our process development toolbox.”

SANTA CLARA, CA – Use of tablets such as the iPad and Android-based devices by consumers for viewing TV/video content more than doubled in 14 regional markets, says NPD DisplaySearch.

This growth occurred in conjunction with increased tablet adoption in these markets.

The fastest growing region for tablet usage is Turkey, with tablet use growing from 3.1% in 2011 to 16.5% in 2012.

In addition, there was strong tablet usage growth in Germany (up nearly fourfold year-over-year), France and the US (both up more than threefold year-over-year).

Besides tablets, consumers are also leveraging other alternate electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones to view TV/video content. More than 70% of consumers use alternate electronic devices such as tablets, notebook PCs, smartphones, MP3 players and desktop computers to view TV/video content, says the firm.

In mature markets like the US, the UK and Germany, a higher number of people view video content on portable computing devices, such as tablets and notebook PCs. In emerging markets like China, Indonesia, Russia and Turkey, consumers report they view content on mobile devices such as smartphones, likely due to the relatively high penetration of wireless networks, says NPD DisplaySearch.

“While the trends vary by region, it is evident that consumers around the globe are watching more video and TV content with their portable electronic devices, as these provide additional means of accessing content,” noted Riddhi Patel, research director of consumer insights for NPD DisplaySearch. “Despite this increase, however, TVs still remain the primary device of choice for viewing TV content, with 30% of consumers reporting that they view TV/video content on TVs alone.”

Despite increasing use of tablets and alternate smart devices, TV replacement cycles were shorter in 2012 than in 2011 in all the countries surveyed, as consumers expressed the desire for improved picture quality, larger size and HD performance, all of which are fulfilled with their adoption of flat panels. Increasing availability of these sets in a range of sizes and declining prices meet up with consumer needs and preferences globally. LCD continues to dominate global markets as the flat panel technology of choice, says the company.

SAN FRANCISCO – A quartet of leading electronics equipment and materials suppliers will team to present a free one-day technical seminar dedicated to advanced technology and reliability next month.

The seminar will take place July 9 at the San Francisco Marriott Union Square.

Presenters will cover cleaning/defluxing processes, improving fault-finding and yields through x-ray technology, and rework of complex assemblies.

Michael Konrad, president of Aqueous Technologies, will present Electrical Leakage, Dendritic Growth, and White Residue: the Rush to Clean No-Clean. Tom Forsythe, Kyzen vice president, will discuss Cleaning Technology Innovations Needed to Clean Highly Dense Assemblies. Keith Bryant, Nordson Dage’s global sales director, will offer 100 Years of X-ray Advancement, and Don Naugler, VJ Electronix’s general manager, will present Overcoming Today’s Rework Challenges.

The session will end with a panel discussion.

To register, visit https://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/eventReg?llr=afhm8xcab&oeidk=a07e62oobn10d0cc126&oseq=a022nsg3ibvx6l. 

For more information, contact Lisa Kocks at workshop@aqueoustech.com.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American printed circuit board shipments in May decreased 2.6% year-over-year on seasonality. Orders increased 10.6% compared to May 2011, says IPC.

Year to date, board shipments were down 5.3%, and orders were up 2.6%. Sequentially, shipments increased 1.7%, while orders were up 3.3%.

The book-to-bill ratio decreased slightly, but continued in positive territory at 1.03 for the sixth straight month. A ratio of more than 1.0 suggests that current demand is ahead of supply, a positive indicator for growth over the next two to three months.       

Rigid PCB shipments were down 1.9% for the month compared to the same period last year, but orders increased 12% year-over-year. Year to date, rigid board shipments decreased 5%, while orders increased 3.1%. Sequentially, shipments were up 2%, and orders gained 1.9%. The rigid book-to-bill was 1.02.

Flexible circuit board shipments in May were down 10%, and orders were down 1.1% year-over-year. Year to date, shipments decreased 9.1%, and orders decreased 2.1%. Sequentially, shipments fell 2.6%, but orders were up 19.8%. The flex book-to-bill remained high at 1.17.         

“North American PCB sales and orders in May continued slightly below last year’s levels and reflected normal seasonal patterns,” said Sharon Starr, IPC director of market research. “The May book-to-bill ratio remained positive for the sixth consecutive month and was especially strong for the flexible circuit segment of the industry. This reinforces our hope that sales will gain strength in the second half of this year.”

In May, 83% of total PCB shipments were domestically produced. Domestic production accounted for 84% of rigid and 80% of flex PCB shipments.

In May, flexible circuit board manufacturers indicated bare circuits accounted for about 41% of shipment value.

COLORADO SPRINGS – As a result of Colorado wild fires, Photo Stencil was required to temporarily evacuate its headquarters here.

The firm says there is no immediate danger to its operation, but the evacuation is causing a short-term disruption to service.

For immediate questions, contact Neil MacRaild at nmacraild@photostencil.com (1-408-933-8434), or Rachel Short, rshort@photostencil.com (1-719-304-4224).