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MUNICH -- Manufacturers of SMT placement equipment saw first-quarter bookings set a record, boosted by a strong March, especially among Western electronics assembly companies.
SANTA CLARA, CA – Whitebox vendors are the fastest growing segment of the worldwide tablet PC market, says DisplaySearch. Whitebox tablet PC players increased shipments to 1.9 million units in the first quarter of 2011, up 235% sequentially.
China represented the largest market for whitebox tablet PCs, accounting for 44% of worldwide shipments, says the firm. Overall shipments of the tablet PC category were down 5.2% sequentially, to 9.7 million units, but up nearly thirteen-fold year-over-year.
Apple remains the leader in the tablet PC market with a 54% share, and is the leader in many aspects of the segment in terms of usage experience, hardware design and price, says DisplaySearch. The growing size of the whitebox tablet PC market, with nearly a 20% share in the first quarter, is a sign of increasing demand by the mainstream market for tablets.
The whitebox tablet PC space is made up of screen sizes primarily in the 7" and 10.1" wide categories, but also includes screens mirroring the Apple/HP form factor of a 9.7" 4:3 format.
The whitebox tablet market in emerging regions is price sensitive and is partially able to exist because whitebox tablet makers use panels left unused by major brands with slightly lower quality levels, like lower brightness, according to the research firm. Using panels from what is essentially a secondary market allows device makers to offer aggressive pricing compared to iPads. Despite some quality issues of these whitebox tablets, they remain appealing to value conscious buyers, such as students, who are shopping based on price.
Cross checks with tablet supply chain participants, such as chipset providers, indicate potential growth opportunities for the whitebox tablet market in the future. While China is the biggest market for whitebox tablet PCs, other emerging regions are also adopting these tablets, including Asia Pacific, Latin America, and parts of EMEA.
The other segments of the mobile PC market, mini-note and notebook PC, experienced sequential and year-over-year growth rates similar to tablet PCs. The mini-note segment grew 17.3% sequentially in China as a result of holiday demand, but year-over-year results declined 10.2%. The opposite occurred in the notebook segment, where shipments sequentially declined 5.9%, while shipments year-over-year slightly rose 1.6%.
SOLON, OH -- Keithley Instruments' parent company plans to shut its plant outside Cleveland and move operations to China. As many as 350 workers could be affected, according to published reports.
FRAMINGHAM, MA -- International Data Corp. today lowered this year's forecast for worldwide PC unit shipment growth to 4.2%, citing the overall economic outlook and market saturation.
TOKYO -- Expectations going into this year’s edition of the JPCA Show were decidedly mixed. The near-term viability of the Japanese manufacturing infrastructure has been shrouded by a lack of information, bureaucracy, and factors such as limited power output.
CHANDLER, AZ – Koh Young Technology has launched Koh Young America, the new US base for operations, providing sales, service, and support for North American customers.
Koh Young provides solder paste inspection and automated optical inspection systems to the global circuit board assembly and semiconductor markets.
The firm is headquartered in Seoul, and has already opened offices in Japan and Europe.
PLANO, TX -- EMS firm Texatronics has closed its operations here and will auction the equipment, including three SMT lines and two wave soldering lines.
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TISZAUIVAROS, HUNGARY -- Jabil plans a major expansion to its operations here as it ramps production of high-speed mobile data transmission networks, according to published reports.
CHENGDU, CHINA – Foxconn said it has resumed operations at its manufacturing plant here after an explosion killed three employees and injured 15 others last month.
An investigation into the cause is ongoing, but preliminary findings suggest an explosion of aluminum dust in a ventilation duct, according to published reports.
Foxconn says it has improved workshop ventilation and has revamped policies and practices related to dust disposal.
The factory builds iPad2 tablets for Apple, plus other electronics gear.
TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in May for the 22nd consecutive month, but both new orders and production took hits.
DAYTON, OH -- Flextronics will lay off more than 400 workers at third-party retail stores around the US, according to published reports and company filings.
SINGAPORE – Flextronics released an inaugural Supply Chain Sustainability Report, designed to drive, implement and gauge CSER compliance standards across the firm’s supply chain.
The report provides an overview of the electronics manufacturing services provider’s supplier CSER compliance program. It includes details on the company's supply chain assessment process, corrective action requirements, results attained to date, supplier feedback and environmental sustainability framework.
The document also speaks to Flextronics’ plans for conformance to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, outlining how it expects to manage its supply chain disclosure of conflict minerals originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The report is available at http://www.flextronics.com/partners/supplierinfo/Files/Supplier%20Sustainbility%20Report-single%20page.pdf.
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