NEEDHAM, MA – Worldwide tablet shipments were down 8.8% year over year in the third quarter of 2022, totaling 38.6 million units, according to preliminary data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker.

This was the fifth straight quarter of decline for the tablet market. Chromebook shipments also struggled in the quarter, falling to 4.3 million units and a year-over-year decline of 34.4%. Both markets have now shifted from supply constrained industries to ones that are demand challenged as consumer and education spending has slowed in the face of economic uncertainties.

ATLANTA — A steep drop in sales sentiment for semiconductors dragged the overall component sentiment index down by 6.7 points to 75.6 in the ECIA's October Electronic Component Sales Trend survey. Despite modest improvements in the Electro-Mechanical and Passive Component Indices, the index for semiconductors collapsed from 96.4 in September to 69.2 in October.

SAN FRANCISCO — Bright Machines has announced that it has raised $132M to accelerate the company's growth and aid the development of new software and service offerings to add to its existing portfolio of projects. The $132 million in funds includes $100 million in Series B equity funding led by Eclipse Ventures and $32 million in debt led by Silicon Valley Bank and Hercules Capital. This round of funding brings the total raised by Bright Machines to $330M since the company’s founding in 2018.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — IPC announced that North American Printed Circuit Board shipments in September 2022 were up 14.6% compared to the same month last year. Compared to August, September shipments rose 17.9%. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.12.

PCB year-to-date bookings in September were down 2.6% compared to last year. However, bookings in September increased 52% from the previous month.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — IPC has announced that North American Electronics Manufacturing Services shipments in September were up 15.5% compared to the same month last year. Compared to August, September shipments decreased 0.1%. The book-to-bill ratio stands at 1.29.

EMS bookings in September increased 21.1% year-over-year and increased 18.1% from the previous month.

WILLIAMSPORT, PA — Spartronics' new electronic contract manufacturing facility in Binh Duong City, Vietnam will be opening for production in December.

The company said the new facility will offer 270,000 sq. ft. of space – a significant increase from the current 60,000 sq. ft facility – for manufacturing commercial airspace, medical, life science, and industrial applications, giving new and current customers the space to expand. The new building will offer the same technical and manufacturing capabilities the current facility offers, but on a much larger scale.

OULU, FINLAND — Scanfil reported that its turnover for the quarter was EUR 211.9 million, an increase of 26.3% compared to the same quarter in 2021, while turnover for January–September was EUR 621.4 million, an increase of 23.3% compared to the previous year.

Scanfil estimates that its turnover for 2022 will be EUR 800–880 million.

TEMPE, AZ — Benchmark reported that it saw revenues of $772 million for the third quarter, marking year-over-year growth of 35%.

The company's higher-value market revenues were up 29% year-over-year from strength in the Industrials, Medical and Semi-Cap sectors. Traditional market revenues were up 60% year-over-year from strength in both Computing and Telecommunications sectors. For the last quarter of the year, Benchmark anticipates revenues between $760 million and $800 million.

SAN JOSE, CA — Flex announced that it brought in $7.8 billion in net sales for the second quarter of its fiscal year.

For the third quarter of its fiscal year, the company's outlook includes $7.3 billion to $7.7 billion in revenue, for a total anticipated revenue of $29.1 billion to $30.1 billion for the entire fiscal year.

"The Flex team delivered solid results, highlighted by strong growth from our diverse customer portfolio and another quarter of record adjusted EPS," said Revathi Advaithi, CEO of Flex. "Looking ahead, the secular tailwinds that support our strategy, remain in our favor and continues to provide us with confidence that we'll be able to deliver on our longer-term goals."

NEENAH, WI — Plexus reported record revenues of $1.12 billion for the fourth quarter of its fiscal year, and revenues of $3.81 billion for the entire 2022 fiscal year.

Looking to the future, the company anticipates revenues of $1.08 billion to $1.13 billion for the first quarter of fiscal year 2023.

BILLINGSTAD, NORWAY — Kitron has reported third-quarter revenues of NOK 1.66 billion (US$161 million), which doubles the company's reported revenues of NOK 831 million (US$80 million) in the third quarter of 2021.

The company said the revenue growth reflects both the acquisition of Danish EMS provider BB Electronics AS and underlying growth for other business units.

CLINTON, NY — Indium Corporation has opened a new 37,500 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Penang, Malaysia.

Earlier this year, the company announced an investment of RM250 million for its expansion in Malaysia with the new manufacturing facility for its solder paste, thermal materials, and engineered solder products. The new facility has already begun its manufacturing activities, and is meant to expand Indium's production capacity for its customers in Malaysia and the surrounding region, including Thailand and Vietnam.