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EL SEGUNDO, CA – Acer has captured the No. 2 position in the global PC market on a quarterly basis for the first time, says iSuppli Corp.

The company topped Dell on the strength of PC unit shipments that climbed 16.6% year-over-year and 31% sequentially.

This caused the firm’s share of worldwide PC unit shipments to rise to 13.4%, up from 12% in the second quarter, and up from 11.6% in the third quarter of 2008.

Company shipments of notebook PCs rose 17% year-over-year and 28% sequentially.

Hewlett-Packard extended its unbroken run of No. 1 rankings to 13 quarters, with third-quarter shipments of 15.9 million units, up 7% year-over-year, giving it a market share of 20%.

iSuppli attributes Acer’s success to its continued aggressive pricing strategy, strong netbook shipments, and robust regional performances in the European and US markets.

PC shipments for fourth-ranked Lenovo rose 17.2% compared to the same period a year earlier, the largest increase among the Top-5 OEMs during the period.

The third quarter also marked two other significant milestones for the PC market: First, unit shipments rose on a year-over-year basis for the first time since the fourth quarter of 2008. Second, shipments increased at the highest sequential rate since iSuppli began tracking the market in 2003.

Worldwide PC shipments in the third quarter amounted to 79.9 million units, up 1.1% from the third quarter of 2008, and up 19% sequentially.

PC market conditions appear likely to remain strong in the fourth quarter. iSuppli has revised its 2009 PC unit shipment forecast to a slight 0.9% decline, compared to the previous forecast of a 4% decrease.

Third-ranked Dell saw shipments decline to 10.3 million units, down 5.9% from the same period last year. Dell’s share of worldwide PC unit shipments amounted to 12.9% during the quarter.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Global shipments of automotive telematics systems are set to rise to 84.4 million units in 2016, up by a factor of more than four from 19.3 million in 2008, according to iSuppli Corp.

PLANO, TX -- VLSIP Technologies president and chief executive Gene F. Wakefield died last week from pancreatic cancer. He was 76.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Component orders continued to climb in November, taking a "brief pause" for the US Thanksgiving holiday, the Electronic Components Association said today.

MACAO – Deswell Industries reported second-quarter net sales of $20.8 million, down 35.3% year-over-year.

Deswell provides a host of services, including contract electronics assembly. The company cited lower demand for plastic injection molding and audio and instrument equipment.

Net income was $3.1 million for the second quarter, compared to net loss of $1.7 million last year.

The firm posted an operating loss of $1.3 million for the quarter, compared to an operating loss of $1.7 million for the same quarter of 2008.

Net sales for the six months ended Sept. 30 were $43.6 million, down 35.2% year-over-year.

Operating loss for the six-month period was $1.5 million, compared to an operating loss of $400,000 in 2008. Deswell reported net income of $2.9 million, compared to a loss of $400,000 last year.

“We are expecting some sales to be generated in the coming quarters from new market segments, such as audio amplifiers, products with LCD display and others,” said CEO Franki Tse.

SINGAPORE – Flextronics has added 900 employees at its Zalaegerszeg, Hungary plant, a local newspaper says.

The decision to hire came as a result of an increase in orders, particularly for a new mobile phone.

The firm currently employs 4,900 people at the plant. At the beginning of 2009, Flextronics laid off nearly 1,000 workers there, but hired 1,000 again by early summer.

MUNICH – Siemens reported revenues dipped slightly in the fourth quarter, falling less than 1% to €76.7 billion.

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA -- Electronic manufacturing services firm Key Tronic raised its guidance for the quarter ending Dec. 26.

LODZ, POLAND -- Dell will transfer ownership of its manufacturing operation here to Foxconn, which will continue to supply to the PC maker.

WESTLAKE, OH -- Nordson EFD has promoted Jeff Pembroke to president, succeeding Peter Lambert, who was recently elected senior vice president of Nordson’s Adhesive Dispensing Systems segment.

TEMPE, AZ – The US manufacturing sector grew in November for the fourth consecutive month, according to an industry report released Tuesday.

TOKYO – SEMI projects worldwide sales of semiconductor equipment of $16 billion in 2009, the largest annual decline in equipment sales since the association began data collection in 1991.

The forecast indicates, following a 31% decline in 2008, the equipment sector will post another significant decline of approximately 46% this year.

However, SEMI expects the market to grow approximately 53% in 2010 to $24.5 billion and to further increase about 28% in 2011 to $31.2 billion.

"Worldwide semiconductor manufacturing equipment sales have declined to the lowest annual levels since 1994, as the global economic crisis and industry downturn caused the world’s chip makers to significantly curtail spending and expansion,” said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. “There has been recent improvement in equipment bookings, and we anticipate a significant growth off the bottom, with expectations of double-digit growth in the next two years.”

Wafer processing equipment is expected to decline about 46% in 2009 to about $12 billion. The wafer processing equipment market will rebound 54% in 2010 and 28% in 2011.

The market for assembly and packaging equipment will decline 33% to $1.4 billion this year, and will growth in the successive two years to reach $2.4 billion in 2011.

The market for equipment to test semiconductors is expected to decline in 2009 about 55% to $1.6 billion, and will also grow in the successive two years to reach $3.3 billion in 2011.

Significant contraction in 2009 was experienced in all market regions worldwide. Improved spending by NAND flash makers, foundries and packaging subcontractors are expected to be key growth drivers in 2010.