News
ROLLING MEADOWS, IL – With a traveling classroom on its doorstep (AKA the rework bus), the front office at BEST Inc. looks like any other office. But then you round the corner. Like Oz behind the curtain, the bustling building is much larger than the front desks imply. And even at 7:30 a.m., ample staff works diligently as if they’d been there for hours.
On Aug. 14, BEST opened its suburban Chicago doors to local SMTA chapter members and about 50 industry professionals from around the country. President Bob Wetterman’s spacious repair/rework facility provided the backdrop (and tasty breakfast casseroles) for a classroom-style educational symposium, with speakers from the host firm, OK International and VJ Electronix, as well as five hands-on demonstrations presented by on-the-job technical staff.
SAN FRANCISCO – Hewlett-Packard Co.’s third-quarter revenues were $28 billion, up 10% year-over-year, according to Deutsche Bank Equity Research.
According to other published reports, H-P's profits jumped 14% in the quarter, to $2.03 billion.
Strong PC results offset weakness in printers, says DB.
DB expects fourth-quarter revenues of $30.2 to 30.3 billion for H-P.
The research firm has adjusted full-year 2008 estimates to $115 billion.
SAN JOSE, CA – North America-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $905 million in orders in July and a book-to-bill ratio of 0.83, says SEMI.
SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ – Effective Sept. 1, Cookson Electronics will increase its prices on alcohol-based chemicals, including Alpha thinners and wave solder fluxes.
SAN JOSE, CA – Revenue for the worldwide EMS market was $261 billion in 2007, up 17% year-over-year, according to Electronic Trend Publications.
YAVNE, ISRAEL – Software provider Valor Computerized Systems Ltd. reported second-quarter revenues of $10.7 million, up 2% year-over-year.
Net profit was $600,000, up 6% compared to the second quarter of 2007.
Revenues in the first half of 2008 were $21.4 million, up 2% compared to the same period last year.
First-half net profit was $2.1 million, up 43% year-over-year.
“Q2 was a good quarter for Valor, despite the slowdown in global economy and the weakness of the US$,” said Valor’s CEO Dan Hoz. “During the quarter we established three new OEM agreements with major machine vendors, who will be selling our products together with their machines.”
Valor has recently engaged in a process of repurchasing its own shares up to a total of $3 million, the company said.
SIOUX FALLS, SD – EMS provider Raven Industries Inc. today announced second-quarter sales of $69.3 million, 24% year-over-year. The largest contributor to the increase was the flow controls division, the firm said.
Net income rose 17% to $6.8 million compared to the second quarter last year.
Year-to-date, sales were $144.4 million, up 27% compared to the first half of 2007. Net income reached $17.7 million, up 23% compared to the same six months last year.
Electronic Systems Division second-quarter sales were $14.7 million, down 12% from the year ago period. Operating income was $1.2 million, down 51%. Year-to-date, sales for the division were down 10% year-over-year to $28 million, while operating income was $1.9 million, down 62%.
The firm expects weaker third-quarter electronic systems sales compared to last year’s strong performance.
Flow Controls Division second-quarter sales grew 93% from a year ago, reaching $22.7 million. Operating income for the three months jumped 172%, to $7.1 million. In the most recent six months, revenues expanded 82%, reaching $57.6 million. Operating income reached $20.6 million, up 112% compared to last year's first half.
ROLLING MEADOWS, IL – BEST Inc. will celebrate its grand reopening on Sept. 24 at 3:30 pm. The BESTFest event will take place at the firm’s newly renovated 25,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Rolling Meadows, IL.
The celebration will feature games, contests, food and tropical drinks.
RSVP to Laura Ripoli at lripoli@solder.net.
BEST specializes in BGA and PCB rework services, and offers products that streamline hand soldering, rework and repair.
BEIJING – China’s handset production is expected to surpass 605 million units in 2008, up about 9% year-over-year, according to CCID Consulting.
About 66% of those handsets will be exported to markets overseas, said the firm.
The production of handsets reached 279 million units in the region for the first half of this year; the global top-five – Nokia, Samsung Electronics, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and LG Electronics – represented 65% of that total, said CCID.
Sales reached 96.4 million units in the first half, up 17.5% compared to the same period in 2007, according to CCID.
ATLANTA – Beginning Oct. 14, Circuits Assembly seeks participants for its annual Service Excellence Awards (SEAs) for EMS providers and electronics assembly equipment, material and software suppliers.
Now in its 17th year, the SEAs honor companies in electronics manufacturing for excelling in the critical area of customer service, allowing participants to benchmark customer service against their peers.
SALT LAKE CITY -- CirTran Corp. reported second-quarter rose 47% to $4.2 million from 2007, while losses from operations improved 19% to $991,052.
For the period ended June 30, the contract assembler, which also manufactures and distributes beverage and certain OEM products, saw beverage sales increase three-fold sequentially to nearly $250,000.
GÖTEBORG, SWEDEN – FlexLink today reported second-quarter sales of $58 million, up 18% year-over-year.
The company took in $68 million in orders for the quarter, up 28%, setting a company record.
