FRAMINGHAM, MA – Third-quarter worldwide PC shipments increased 3.6% year-over-year, beating last quarter's numbers but lower than market projections.

REYNOSA, MEXICO -- Top 10 EMS company Cal-Comp USA has purchased a 125,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility here to perform electronics manufacturing services, in particular for a major supplier of set-top boxes.

SHENZHEN – Zestron said today it would open its fifth global technical center here, with an inauguration to be held Oct. 25.

With the opening of this facility, the company is adding its second customer support center for China and fifth overall. Other sites are in Europe, the US and Southeast Asia.

The 1000 m²–plus facility features a range of different cleaning machines by various suppliers; a team of process engineers to support customers solving cleaning challenges; fully equipped conference rooms as a platform for technical seminars; and an HD video teleconferencing system that enables Zestron and its customers to access any of the company’s global engineering teams.

SUGAR LAND, TX -- Suntron will close its manufacturing facility here next year and move production to other locations, the company said today.

RICHARDSON, TX -- Asset InterTech has issued a white paper describing a new method for validating, testing and debugging printed circuit boards by embedding a board-tester-in-a-chip.

BANGKOK – Rampant flooding north of Bangkok has put several electronics manufacturing facilities in the region at risk.

CLEVELAND, OH – A new CD published by Keithley Instruments offers application notes and tutorial information on using source measurement units in a host of applications.

“Configuring Cost-Effective, High Performance Sourcing and Measurement Solutions” is aimed at users of high-power, high-brightness LED test, solar cell characterization, and high-resistance measurements.

SMUs combine the capabilities of DC voltage and current sources and a digital multimeter. These instruments are suitable for standalone benchtop use and as building blocks in highly scalable system solutions, combining wide I-V dynamic range with synchronized operation, says Keithley. A selector guide simplifies identifying the most appropriate SMUs for a particular application.

A free copy of the CD is available at www.keithley.com/promo/pr/092.

WASHINGTON – The National Association of Manufacturers today issued a strong statement in support of the Obama administration’s latest growth initiatives.

The President’s Jobs Council has recommended five major initiatives to facilitate corporate expansion, upgrade infrastructure and cut government red tape. Government policies have come under fire for hindering job growth and prolonging the economic recession.

NAM said it would support efforts to improve the communications between government and businesses, and applauded the policy shifts proposed by the Jobs Council.

In a statement NAM president and CEO Jay Timmons said, “Manufacturers wake up each day focused on finding opportunities to grow, create jobs and thrive in the global marketplace. Unfortunately, irresponsible policies have chipped away at our competitive edge, and it is now 20% more expensive to do business in the US. The President’s Jobs Council, led by Jeff Immelt, has taken a hard look at this environment and targeted a number of pro-growth initiatives to get our economy back on track and people back to work."

WASHINGTON -- A pair of amendments proposed today to the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011 would create new protections for the intellectual property of US companies and citizens.

RICHARDSON, TX ― Electronics manufacturing services company ACD reported a record third quarter, with sales currently up 17% year-over-year, and up 32% year-to-date over 2010.

Seven out of the first nine months in 2011 have been record months, the firm says.

The firm has added two Juki lines this year, and has more than tripled its capacity with the expansion of its plant here.

ACD has hired an additional 30 employees in the last year.

CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY's feature article on ACD this month: http://www.circuitsassembly.com/cms/component/content/article/159/11752-out-of-the-fire-acd-heats-up.

TAIPEI – Foxconn has paid about $45 million for Cisco’s set-top box manufacturing facilities in Mexico, a deal previously announced in July:
http://circuitsassembly.com/cms/news/11432-foxconn-buys-ciscos-juarez-facility.

Foxconn acquired the sites through PCE Paragon Solutions, a Hon Hai subsidiary, say published reports.

Cisco had acquired the plants as part of its purchase of Scientific-Atlanta in 2006. The production facility in Juarez has a total staff of 5,000.

The companies had announced the deal in mid-summer but had not previously disclosed the sale price.

SANTA CLARA, CA – Total TV shipments are forecast to remain flat in 2011, holding at 248 million units on lower-than-expected LCD sales, according to DisplaySearch.

The research group lowered its forecast based on lower business targets from TV manufacturers and lower-than-expected demand for key TV components during the peak procurement period leading into the holiday season.

“Demand in regions like North America and Europe has fallen short of expectations, as persistent economic problems have made consumers cautious in their spending and highly value-seeking,” said Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV research for DisplaySearch. “Emerging markets continue to show good growth, but it is not strong enough to counteract the weaker demand in developed markets, and as a result, we have lowered our unit forecasts for LCD and plasma TV.”

Although total TV unit demand for 2011 looks to be flat, shipments of flat panel TVs, including CRT and rear projection technologies, will increase about 6% year-over-year, and then improve to 9% in 2012 as the premium for advanced features continues to fall and manufacturers bring low-cost solutions to emerging markets in an effort spur faster replacement of CRT TVs.

LCD shipments will rise from 192 million in 2010 to 206 million this year, less than the previous forecast of 211 million and a key reason the overall TV market forecast was reduced. LCD TVs account for more than 80% share of all global TV shipments. “LCD TV supply chain participants – panel makers, OEMs, and TV brands – have all lowered their outlook for 2011, despite a recent drop in LCD panel prices,” said Gagnon. “Long-term, we continue to forecast annual growth in demand for LCD TVs, although generally we expect less than 10% growth each year.”

A growing share of new premium features, like LED backlights and 3D, are helping keep the LCD TV category average prices very stable in 2011, falling just 7% year-over-year on a volume-weighted basis. However, with the slower unit growth, total LCD TV revenues are expected to be flat this year. After increasing slightly in 2012, revenues should begin a gradual decline beginning in 2013. The forecast share of LED backlights in LCD TV shipments has been reduced slightly to 46% in 2011, but is still expected to become the dominant backlight technology for LCD in 2012 and reach nearly 100% of shipments by 2015.

Plasma TV unit growth started slowing in the second quarter this year, down 6% year-over-year, and is now expected to see a double-digit unit shipment decline each quarter through the middle of 2012. Because LCD TV prices are falling more quickly than plasma TV prices, the gap in pricing is narrowing and share is shifting away from plasma and toward LCD at several sizes. For example, in the second quarter of 2010, a 42" 1080p plasma TV was 32% cheaper than a competitive 42" 1080p 120 Hz LED LCD TV, but that gap fell to just 9% by the same quarter in 2011. Total plasma TV unit shipments are expected to fall 9% in 2011 to 17 million units and around 5% to 6% each year thereafter.

OLED TV is set to debut around late 2012 as a contender in the 40"+ category, but will only grow to about 2.5% of the 40"+ segment by 2015 due to high prices and limited availability. Current projections are for OLED to debut at about two to three times the price of a high-end LED-backlit LCD TV.

Emerging regions (China, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa) will have the strongest flat panel TV growth over the next four years, averaging 11% growth each year, while developed regions decline an average of 1% each year. The Asia Pacific region is positioned for strongest growth, as the late-adopting India market begins to boom, says DisplaySearch.

The worldwide forecast for 3D TVs was slightly increased through unexpected growth in emerging markets and Europe, although North America is growing slower than expected. 3D TVs are expected to account for 11% of total TV shipments in North America, but 14% of Western Europe and 12% of China TV shipments. Eventually though, North America will lead 3D adoption due to stronger preference for 40"+ sizes. 3D TV is expected to account for just over 22 million in 2011, rising to more than 100 million shipped by 2015.