MANILA, PHILIPPINES — An electronics industry rebound is starting to take hold here and companies are publicly discussing hiring plans for 2012.

WASHINGTON, DC -- Worldwide semiconductor sales reached a record $299.5 billion in for 2011, up 0.4% year-on-year, according to the final numbers from SIA.

BOISE, ID -- Steve Appleton, 51, chief executive of Micron Technologies, died in a small plane crash here this morning.

JASPER, IN -- Kimball International reported fiscal second-quarter net sales in its electronic manufacturing services segment plunged 18% from a year ago due to the end of a major program with a medical customer.

ANAHEIM, CA -- Multi-Fineline Electronix today reported fiscal first-quarter net income was $13.5 million, down from $15.1 million a year ago. For the period ended, Dec. 31, the flexible printed circuit fabricator and EMS provider reported net sales of $239.3 million, topping the high end of company guidance but down from $241.2 million the prior year.

ANGLETON, TX – Contract electronics manufacturer Benchmark Electronics posted sales of $559 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, down 10.8% year-over-year.

MINNEAPOLIS – The winner from SMTA International 2011 for Best of Conference was Chrys Shea, Shea Engineering Services, for her presentation entitled “Using Solder Paste Inspection to Improve Print Yields.” 

David Hillman, Rockwell Collins, won the Best of Proceedings category for the paper "The Last Will and Testament of the BGA Void."

Matt Kelly, P.Eng, MBA, IBM Corp., won the Best International Paper category for the paper entitled "Lead-Free Vapor Phase Assembly Compatible Materials for a High Performance SMT Daughter Card Connector."

Winners receive $1,000 awards and plaques for their achievements.

The authors will formally be presented their awards at SMTAI on Oct. 15 in Orlando. 

LAKE OSWEGO, OR – PCB Assembly Express has announced it is offering online quoting and ordering in real time for printed circuit board design, fabrication and assembly. 

The online quotes are firm, not estimates subject to additional charges, the firm says.

The site offers orders both in the US and offshore; quotes for both can be done simultaneously. 

GENEVA -- The World Trade Organization Appellate Body this week issued a ruling upholding an earlier recommendation that China bring its raw material export duty and quota measures into conformity with its WTO obligations. The decision could impact China’s self-imposed restrictions on exports of certain rare earth minerals.

The dispute concerns quotas imposed by China affecting the exportation of certain forms of bauxite, coke, fluorspar, magnesium, manganese, silicon carbide, silicon metal, yellow phosphorous, and zinc. The US, Mexico, and the European Union challenged the restraints, alleging that they were inconsistent with China's commitments under various trade agreements.

In a statement, the US Trade Representative asserted the WTO Appellate Body rejected “China’s attempts to portray its export restraints as conservation or environmental protection measures or measures taken to manage critical shortages of supply.”  The co-complainants will now request that the WTO adopt the decision.
 
The ruling is significant for electronics manufacturers because it could open the door to a similar complaint over Chinese export quotas on rare earth minerals, according to several analysts.

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA -- Key Tronic today announced December quarter net income rose 83% year-over-year to $3.2 million on a big jump in revenue.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Semiconductor industry revenue will grow 3.3% in 2012 thanks to lingering doubts over the worldwide recovery, research firm IHS iSuppli said today.

TEMPE, AZ — US manufacturing activity rose in January to its highest point since June, according to the latest survey of the nation's supply executives.