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MANKATO, MN – Winland Electronics reported fourth-quarter net sales of $7.8 million, up 3.6% year-over-year.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The SMTA and MEPTEC are combining events to create the 2009 Medical Electronics Symposia, which will be held Sept. 23 and 24 in Tempe, AZ.

Each organization will organize complementary one-day tracks of technical presentations to be held on opposite days. Attendees will have the option to attend both days of the program or purchase a one-day pass to attend individual sessions.

The symposia will cover development, reliability and quality of medical electronics, materials processing and medical electronics assembly, battery technology, environmental and worldwide regulations and more.

Both organizations will issue a call for abstracts in April.

For information, contact Melissa Serres at melissa@smta.org.

The SMTA Medical Electronics Symposium, previously held in Anaheim, CA and Minneapolis, MN, is in its 6th year.

MEPTEC’s symposium, in its 4th year, has been held in Phoenix, AZ.

SAN JOSE -- Flextronics International, in a statement issued today, said it would cut an undisclosed number of jobs and close certain plants as the world's second largest EMS company tries to rebound from a global slump.

Flextronics also said it will move manufacturing capacity to lower-cost sites.

EL SEGUNO, CA — Eight of the Top 10 semiconductor firms suffered revenue declines for the year, according to iSuppli Corp.

TAIPEI - Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai) reported its lowest revenues in two years, with February non-consolidated falling 10.5% sequentially and 10.6% year-over-year.

The company, the world's largest EMS provider, had sales of NT$82.7 billion ($2.38 billion) for the month.

Foxconn cited IT seasonality and lackluster consumer electronics sales for the drop.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Electronic component orders continued to fall in February, but not as sharply as in January, according to the monthly index compiled by the Electronic Components Association. The 12-month average, comparing this year's results to last year's, continued a descent that began last summer.

Although the overall trend continued to be down there was a glimmer of hope from a couple of companies that reported orders above 2008 levels in the last week of the month.

"I believe the numbers show that the economic downturn is affecting different companies in different ways," said Bob Willis, ECA president, in a statement.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL -- A local paper is reporting that Flextronics has filed documents in Illinois indicating plans to close operations in Elk Grove Village this Spring, a move that would cost 113 workers their jobs.

The Daily Herald says the operations at 1150 Lively Blvd. and 1065 Chase Ave. will be closed by May. Flextronics did not comment on the report.

NANTOU, TAIWAN – Universal Scientific Industrial reported February consolidated net revenue of $95.8 million, up 5% sequentially and down 41% year-over-year.

On a non-consolidated basis, monthly net revenue amounted to $44.1 million, up 28% sequentially and down 28% year-over-year.

USI, which is the world’s 24^th largest EMS company according to the Circuits Assembly Top 50, reported electronics packaging and EMS sales of $23.4 million, or 24% of total revenue. The figure was up 24% sequentially and down 39% from the same period last year.

Computers and peripherals showed net revenue of $26.2 million (27% of total sales), up 11% sequentially and down 48% year-over-year.

Communications also accounted for 24% of revenue, at $22.9 million, up 2% sequentially and down 29% year-over-year.

TORONTO – EMS provider SMTC Corp. reported 2008 fourth-quarter revenue of $61.1 million, up 1.6% sequentially and down 8.5% year-over-year.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — After years of singlehandedly powering the robust growth of the global electronics manufacturing services business, Foxconn (Hon Hai) grew marginally in 2008, and the top-tier EMS market contracted, according to preliminary market-share results from iSuppli Corp.

LONDON – Despite a lackluster fourth quarter, the Cookson Group reported its 2008 revenue climbed 23% to â‚¤2.203 billion ($3.04 billion).

The company, the parent of Alpha Metals and Enthone, reported trading profits up 11% to â‚¤216.3 million ($298.3 million), and pre-tax profits climbed 18% to â‚¤176.3 million ($243.1 million).

The electronics division saw a year-over-year revenue increase of 11% to â‚¤620 million ($854.9 million) at reported exchange rates.

For the year, assembly materials sales fell 10% to â‚¤382 million (US$526.8 million) on an increase in metal prices, especially tin and silver. Chemistry sales dropped 9% to â‚¤238 million (US$328.2 million) on the sharp decline in the electronics and automotive markets.

Nevertheless, the fourth-quarter slide has continued into the first quarter, and Cookson plans to reduce its overhead by $55.2 million.

MENLO PARK, CA -- A March survey of senior operations and supply chain professionals at 75 electronics OEMs uncovered concern over the viability of key supply chain partners, including both EMS providers and component suppliers. Also, a number of companies are considering strategic operations alternatives – such as relocating outsourced production to different geographical regions or partners – to address the heightened need to further reduce costs in this challenging environment, Riverwood Solutions' survey found.

Key findings include:

· 69% of OEMs believe that supply chain management can be a source of competitive advantage; 31% believe that their supply chain is more nimble than that of their competitors.

· 53% plan to geographically relocate at least some of their outsourced production in the next two quarters; 50% plan to move some production to another EMS provider during that same period.

· 31% report being “Very Concerned” that their EMS provider will be unable to meet their delivery commitments in the coming year based on financial difficulty; less than 2% of respondents report being concerned that their EMS provider may be acquired by another company.

“The results of the OEM survey are consistent with what we are hearing from current and prospective customers,” said Courtney Ryan, senior vice president, Global Business Units at Jabil, in a press release issued by Riverwood. “OEMs continue to seek opportunities to reduce cost and improve competitiveness – but with a renewed focus on the supply assurance and financial stability of their EMS partners.”