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HUDSON, MA -- A former Intel employee was charged yesterday with stealing trade secrets valued at more than $1 billion.

Biswamohan Pani is accused of allegedly downloading Intel trade secrets while working simultaneously for Advanced Micro Devices. He has been charged with a total of five counts of theft of trade secrets.

According to the indictment, Pani had taken a job with AMD while still in the employ of Intel, then while on vacation from Intel, allegedly downloaded at least eight documents described by Intel as “confidential,” “secret” or “top secret.”

The information Pani allegedly downloaded was worth $1 billion in research and development costs, according to the federal government.

AMD was unaware of Pani's alleged actions, according to the indictment.

Pani had worked at Intel's Hudson, MA, site before taking the job with AMD in Santa Clara, CA.

ITASCA, IL – ITW has filed its 10-Q quarterly report showing third quarter operating revenues in its Power Systems and Electronics unit grew $53.3 million year-over-year, or 9.4%, to $620.7 million. Year to date, the segment is up 9.7% through Sept. 30.

For the quarter, the operating margin was 19%, down 50 basis points from a year ago. However, base margins climbed 40 basis points during the quarter. Base manufacturing revenues grew 3.1% and operating income was up 5%. Acquisitions made up another 3.7%, while currency translation costs added 2.5%. Growth was spurred primarily by a 26.4% jump in ITW’s international welding business. The acquisition revenue was primarily due to the purchase of a PCB fabrication business and a welding accessories business, ITW said.

The business unit includes Speedline Technologies, Vitronics-Soltec and Kester Solder, among others.

LAGUNA, PHILIPPINES – Integrated Microelectronics Inc. will build biometric authentication cards for Validus Technologies Corp., the companies announced this week. The value of the manufacturing deal was not disclosed.

The Validus-designed VALIDcard is a type of powered card that comes fully self-contained within a card form factor. It has uses in e-commerce, online banking, health care, physical and logical access, and security.

IMI is a top 40 EMS manufacturer with annual revenues of about $400 million.

Validus, which owns powered card patents, “chose IMI as its manufacturing partner due to [its] excellence in engineering, global manufacturing operations and key patents relating to advanced electronics assembly,” said Travis McGregor, CEO of Validus.

Validus and IMI also are producing V2.0 Beta VALIDcards, to be released to beta customers within weeks.

TAMPA, FL -- Kimball International paid $5.4 million for Genesis Electronics Manufacturing, a Tampa-based EMS firm acquired by Kimball in September.

Kimball, whose EMS group's sales rank in the top 25 worldwide, declined to specify the price at the time of the acquisition. However, the amount, which covers Genesis' assets and some liabilities, was included in the company's recent earning report.

Genesis had 2007 revenues of about $16 million.

Genesis' programs and staff will be moved to Kimball’s Tampa facility.

LOUISVILLE -- Sypris Solutions today reported revenue of $100.2 million for its third quarter, down 4.1% from the prior year.

The company swung to a net loss of $7.8 million, whereas a year-ago it reported income of $2.6 million. The most recent results included restructuring charges of $700,000 and foreign exchange losses of $1.0 million.

JASPER, IN -- Kimball International today reported net sales of $339.5 million and income from continuing operations of $2.2 million for its first quarter of fiscal 2009.

For the period ended Sept. 30, net income from continuing operations fell 67% while sales rose 2% year-over-year.

WASHINGTON, DC -- The AeA and the Electronics Components Association (ECA) are considering a merger, the two groups said.

In a statement, AeA chairman Peter Boni said there is a growing need "for a trade association that has the size, scale and flexibility to support and promote its members and the industry as a whole."

Ironically, ECA was spun out in mid 2006 when the Electronics Industries Alliance diviied up its assets among its member organizations. Moreover, in September the AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association) and the Information Technology Association of America, another former EIA partner, announced discussions to merge their respective memberships and programs.

AeA has 2,400 corporate members and focuses on lobbying at the state, federal and international levels. Its 2006 revenues, the last year for which records are available, were $19.4 million.

ECA has more than 92 members and reported a small loss on revenues of $1.9 million in 2006.

ITAA has 360 members and concentrates on business development, public policy advocacy, market forecasting and standards development. Its 2006 revenues were $5.9 million. Combined, the groups spent $2.25 million to lobby the federal government in 2007, according to required filings, and have been increasing their contributions this year.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Contract electronics manufacturers will not escape the impact of the current economic downturn, but will continue to expand and even experience a mild rebound in three years, according to iSuppli Corp.

Global EMS revenue, including ODM providers, is expected to grow 8.3% in 2008, down from 16.1% in 2007. iSuppli previously forecasted growth of 9.1% this year.

In 2009, growth will slow to 6.1%, as the global recession sets in and demand from consumers and enterprises continues to soften. In 2010, OEM demand will stabilize and contract-manufacturing growth will rise to 7.6%. In 2011, growth will rise to 9%, as the global electronics and contract manufacturing markets recover.

“Speculative activities specific to the housing market and mortgage-backed securities will or already have triggered a recession in the United States that could spread across the world,” observed Adam Pick, principal analyst, EMS/ODM, for iSuppli. “Demand specific to the electronics marketplace will continue to soften. As the end-markets erode due to recession, the trickle-down effect will cause less significant revenue growth for electronics supply-chain participants, including EMS/ODM providers.”

However, the EMS market will continue to expand during this period, as OEMs attempt to adjust cost structures and enhance core competencies.

“OEMs, including Dell, are reported to be selling off up to $15 billion in annual manufacturing revenues via a divestiture of desktop and integration facilities,” Pick said. “Furthermore, non-traditional OEMs – i.e., those in the medical, industrial, aerospace markets – will continue to explore, test and adopt external manufacturing partners during the financial downturn.”

The firm indicates short-term credit issues are not currently impacting contract manufacturers’ operations. “Fear and concern that most contract manufacturers are at a short-run risk for bankruptcy appear to be overstated,” Pick opined.

An analysis of the bankruptcy risk for the top eight EMS providers indicates most providers remain in a financial safety zone. Furthermore, iSuppli’s quick survey of EMS providers did not indicate any immediate risk specific to upcoming maturity dates for debt instruments. Finally, the short-term cash reserves of the top EMS providers should mitigate any short-term financial crisis.

During the last major recession, between 2001 and 2003, the contract manufacturing industry managed to maintain growth, and then experienced a surge in revenue in 2004 as the market recovered. The EMS/ODM industry has frequently noted this “rubber-band effect,” where the market snaps back vigorously from industry downturns.

“This recession and recovery will be fundamentally different for the contract manufacturers,” Pick stated. “There are several macroeconomic and industrial factors that will prohibit the revenue explosion we saw in 2003, 2004 and 2005.”

ELKHART, IN -- The top financial officer of CTS Corp. yesterday suggested the economy is straining smaller EMS firms, thus opening the door for larger players.

On a conference call with analysts, president and chief financial officer Vinod M. Khilnani said, "Financial constraints on smaller tier three and tier four competitors are presenting new business opportunities for our EMS business."

ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics today announced that cofounders Steven A. Barton and Donald E. Nigbor will retire effective Dec. 1. Both have served as directors for more than 20 years.

Barton and Nigbor will remain directors until the 2009 annual meeting of shareholders. The board intends to nominate chief executive Cary T. Fu to succeed Nigbor as chairman, effective in May 2009.

Fu will become the last of the founders to remain with the company.

Benchmark was founded in 1986.

STAMFORD, CT -- The economic crisis is having a significant impact on the semiconductor industry, as worldwide semiconductor revenue growth in 2009 is expected to be 1%, down by approximately seven points from previous estimates, according to preliminary estimates from Gartner Inc.

In the third quarter, worldwide semiconductor revenue for 2009 was forecast to be $307.7 billion, a 7.8% increase from 2008. Gartner now expects worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2009 to total approximately $282 billion, a 1% increase.

Although semiconductor companies mostly met expectations for the third quarter (the semiconductor industry grew by approximately 5% quarter over quarter) guidance for the fourth quarter continues to drop. Gartner estimates worldwide semiconductor revenue in 2008 to total $279.4 billion, a 2% increase from 2007.

"Semiconductor growth was surprisingly strong until recently, given the very weak economic environment, but this will start to change in the fourth quarter of 2008," said Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Gartner. "Mounting evidence suggests that the semiconductor industry will see negative growth starting in the fourth quarter of 2008, and that this will continue throughout most of 2009."

Gartner assesses the potential impact on semiconductor growth by checking the sensitivity of changing demand in key application markets. Gartner applied assumptions to reductions in system units and reductions in semiconductor content in systems. PCs and cellphones account for approximately a third of the total semiconductor market, so they are the biggest applications for adjusting growth. For example, if the system unit percentage change of PCs is lowered by 8%, this would impact semiconductor growth by 1.61%.

"In a recession, it's important to remember that there will not only be a potential reduction in the number of systems sold, but also a move to lower-cost systems with less semiconductor content," Lewis said.