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SAN JOSE – A new SEMI white paper details the rapid progress of 3-D IC integration technology, including through-silicon via developments.

AUSTIN, TX — Some 25% of LCD TVs shipped in the first quarter were made by external OEMs/EMS, up 1% sequentially.

STAMFORD, CT -- Gartner Group today issued a lower outlook for worldwide IT spending this year. The firm now predicts a 6% drop in 2009, to $3.2 billion. Hardware sales will drop 16.3, the researchers said, citing reluctance on the part of corporate and consumer buyers.

In March, the firm guided for a overall drop on 3.8%, including software and services.

A recovery should come in 2010, Gartner said. The firm forecasts 2.3% growth overall next year, with hardware sales flat.

LONDON -- Electronics distributor Premier Farnell is accepting scholarship applications from students worldwide who are registered in a full-time electrical and electronics engineering course in the 2009 entry year.

SAN JOSE -- Call it EMS Harmony. EMS consulting group Charlie Barnhart & Associates has launched an online program said to enable OEMs to identify appropriate electronics manufacturing services partners.

BANNOCKBURN, IL — A US trade group yesterday launched a campaign to convince the environmental agencies and governments of Germany and Sweden to keep Tetrabromobisphenol(a) (TBBPA) legal in electronics products.

HERNDON, VA -- Jim McElroy, the chief executive of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, is set to retire. A search for a successor has been launched.

MINNEAPOLIS – RITE USA has signed an exclusive agreement to represent Exergy Technologies Corp. in North America and Canada.

No financial terms were disclosed.

RITE USA represents manufacturers in North America. The firm provides system solutions to the PCB and EMS marketplace, featuring EthorCel.

Exergy is a California-based manufacturer of industrial water and chemical recycling systems, utilizing advanced membrane and electro-membrane technologies.

SAN JOSE – The 90-day moving average sales of semiconductors rose 5.4% sequentially to $16.5 billion worldwide in May, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported.

SAN DIEGO – The program for SMTA International is finalized and registration is open. The conference will be held at the Town and Country Resort and Convention Center in San Diego, Oct. 4-8.

The program includes 18 courses, 120 technical papers and three symposia: Evolving Technologies Summit, Contract Manufacturing Symposium, and Lead-Free Soldering Technology Symposium. Areas of focus include manufacturing and assembly, advanced packaging, substrates, soldering, business issues and process control.

Peter Barry of Jet Propulsion Laboratory will talk about NASA's missions in the keynote .

The exhibition will feature more than 100 suppliers.

For more information, visit www.smta.org/smtai.

TEMPE, AZ -- Production in the US manufacturing sector rose 12.1 points between April and June, reaching 52.5%, according to the latest survey of the nation's supply executives.

HERNDON, VA – The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative today released a statement defining low-halogen (BFR/CFR/PVC-free) for electronics products.

For PCBs and board laminates, iNEMI members define low halogen as containing no more than 1500 ppm of total halogens in the resin plus reinforcement matrix, and no more than 900 ppm (each) of bromine or chlorine.

For components, each plastic in the component should contain less than 1000 ppm of bromine, if the source is from brominated flame retardants, and less than 1000 ppm of chlorine, if the source is from chlorinated flame retardants, PVC or PVC copolymers.

Members supporting the statement include Cisco, Dell, Doosan, H-P, Intel, Lenovo, Nan Ya Plastics, Senju Comtek, Sun Microsystems and Tyco Electronics.

The statement comes following iNEMI’s April announcement of its HFR-Free Leadership Program, through which several of the consortium’s OEM and supply-chain members are working to assess the feasibility of a broad conversion to HFR-free PCB materials.

Three specific project teams are now working on the program, including:

· The HFR-Free PCB Materials Project, which plans to identify technology limitations involved in transitioning to HFR-free PCB materials.
· The HFR-Free Signal Integrity Project, which focuses on ensuring no electrical signal degradation in HFR-free PCB materials.
· The PVC Alternatives Project, which evaluates alternatives to PVC (including additives) in electronic cable and wire applications using a lifecycle assessment approach.