Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

SHENZHEN – MatriX Technologies, a manufacturer of high-speed x-ray systems, has opened a subsidiary here.

The Dachau, Germany-based company is also intensifying its activities in the NDT area of automatic material analysis for casting parts, said to appeal to the Asian automotive industry.

“The majority of MatriX AXI installations are globally operating clients who typically have increasing manufacturing sites in Asia,” said Eckhard Sperschneider, managing director for MatriX.

Howard Zhou Jianquan heads the recently opened sales and service office in Shenzhen.

STAMFORD, CT – Worldwide semiconductor revenue was $261.9 billion in 2008, down 4.4% year-over-year, according to preliminary results from Gartner Inc.

"In the last quarter of 2008, market conditions deteriorated significantly, and as the fourth quarter has progressed, many vendors have issued updated guidance for the quarter, reflecting weakening market conditions," said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner. "Unfortunately for vendors, 2009 is going to be considerably worse. Some have compared the precipitous decline in semiconductor demand to that of the 2001 ‘dot-com' bubble. However, unlike 2001, this economic downturn is much more broad-based and not limited primarily to the technology sector.

"Given this increased uncertainty, all semiconductor companies should be focused on cash preservation and inventory management," Norwood said. "This is also an excellent opportunity for the larger companies with stronger balance sheets to make strategic acquisitions."

For the 17th consecutive year, Intel held the top spot, increasing its market share to 13.1% this year. When looking at continuing operations, Intel's revenue increased 6.5%, 11 percentage points above the market average.

Qualcomm had the strongest growth rate among the top 10, growing revenues 15% in 2008. Although the first three quarters were strong, the company felt the impact of the economic downturn in the fourth quarter.

Hynix Semiconductor’s revenue fell 29.7%, the most of any of the top 10 semiconductor vendors. This decline is attributed to the price drop of DRAM and NAND.

Infineon Technologies struggled this year as well. "Infineon had a tough year, as its memory subsidiary, Qimonda, which it is looking to divest, is becoming marginalized within the DRAM industry," Norwood said.

BARCELONA – Essemtec Switzerland says a distribution contract for Spain has been signed with TCH, Technology & Chemical, S. L, Cadiz and Barcelona, Spain.

Essemtec says it needed a second Spanish distribution partner, in addition to Maquinaria Suiza. Essemtec will build a local service and support organization with the local firm.

TCH offers sales and support for all Essemtec entry-level machines for prototyping and small volumes. The equipment covers prototyping up to low-volume production. Their engineers can offer both machine and process training.

TCH has many years’ experience supplying production materials in Spain.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn Electronics reported November revenues rose 1% year-over-year to NT$134.9 billion (US$4.05 billion). Sales were down 20% from October, however.

The EMS/ODM company's year-to-date revenues hit NT$1.35 billion ($40.6 billion), up 24.22% year-over-year.

LUXEMBOURG – Top tier EMS firm Elcoteq has scheduled a round of statutory cooperation procedure talks in Finland.

"The company estimates that the need for possible personnel reductions in Finland could apply to at most about 50 people across all employee categories," the company said in a statement.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement of the shuttering of the company's manufacturing plant in Salo, Finland. That move cost 36 employees their jobs.

Elcoteq currently has roughly 21,000 employees worldwide, approximately 180 in Finland.

ARLINGTON, VA – Electronic component orders took a dip in November, although not nearly as drastic as the one in September, says the Electronic Components Association. The 12-month average, comparing this year’s results to those from 2007, continued the slight descent that began this summer.

HIALEAH, FL -- Simclar Inc. intends to voluntarily delist its common shares from the Nasdaq Capital Market and voluntarily deregister its common shares by Dec. 19 and cease filing reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the EMS company said today.

The company, a 73.4% owned subsidiary of privately held Simclar Group Ltd., said the costs of its Nasdaq listing and SEC compliance is "substantial" and the benefits "intangible."

CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Forrester Research lowered its 2009 US IT spending forecast to 1.6%, on slower demand for computers. The research group previously guided for 6.1% growth next year. It marks the fourth time in 10 months the firm has reduced its 2009 outlook.

NEW YORK -- Deutsche Bank Equity Research today cut its 2009 EMS industry revenue outlook to a 7% drop.

BREDA, HOLLAND – Cobar Europe recognized its top sales performers for 2008.

The Sales Team of the Year was awarded to PEM Technologies, manufacturer’s representatives for South Africa since November 2007.

Sales Person of the Year was awarded to Jerzy Ziolkowski of C.H. Erbslöh, representatives for Poland. In 2004, Erbslöh Poland won the sales team award.

Cobar Europe, part of the Balver Zinn Group, supplies solder, paste, fluxes and related materials.

NEEDHAM, MA – PTC has acquired privately held Synapsis Technology Inc. for an undisclosed sum.

Spring House, PA-based Synapsis has approximately 25 employees and provides environmental regulatory compliance solutions to Motorola, Microsoft, Sony Ericsson, Visteon, Delphi, IBM, GE, Beckman Coulter, Teradyne and Cisco.

PTC provides product lifecycle management, content management and dynamic publishing solutions.

With the acquisition, PTC says it will broaden its support for green product design and enable customers to achieve compliance with REACH and other environmental regulations.

OLATHE, KS – EMS provider Elecsys Corp. reported fiscal second-quarter 2009 sales of $7.2 million, up 29% year-over-year. Net income was $424,000 for the quarter ended Oct. 31, up about 98% compared to the same period last year.

For the six-month period, net income totaled $533,000, up 65.5% year-over-year.

The firm expects a modest decline in revenues and profits for the third quarter, and a strong fiscal fourth quarter.

Total sales year-to-date increased 23% to $12.8 million. The increase is attributed to sales generated by the company’s Radix subsidiary's handheld computer business.

"The results reflect the strong growth of our Radix division, as well as the steady growth of NTG and the continued stability of DCI," said Karl Gemperli, Elecsys CEO.

Sales of Radix rugged handheld computer hardware and peripherals surged to approximately $3.3 million for the quarter. Radix sales included a $2.6 million order announced in July and delivered during the quarter to South Africa-based Transnet.

NTG sales of remote monitoring products were $833,000, up 2% year-over-year.