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SAN JOSE – Sanmina-SCI today said its first-quarter fiscal 2008 revenue would be $2.53 billion, in line with previous guidance of $2.5 billion to $2.65 billion.

SPRINGFIELD, MA — A merger by a pair of EMS companies has led to a name change for the combined entity.

Nu Visions and Veritek are now OnCore Manufacturing Services (OnCore). The company focuses on the defense/aerospace, medical and industrial segments, and has locations in Springfield, MA; Longmont, CO; San Jose and San Marcos, CA; and Tijuana, Mexico.

The merged company has estimated sales of more than $200 million and more than 900 employees. Its Web site is www.oncorems.com.

YAVNE, ISRAEL – Software provider Valor Computerized Systems plans an initial public offering of ordinary shares, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

The company did not disclose the expected size or price range of the IPO, but indicated the planned March offering may net up to $80.5 million.

The company plans to offer $50 million of shares, while shareholders will make an offer to sell of up to an additional $20 million of their shares and underwriters will be granted options for an additional $10.5 million worth of shares.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, Valor's earnings were $2.2 million on revenue of $31.4 million.

Valor, currently traded on the Frankfurt Exchange, said its new symbol will be "VLOR."

MANAMA, BAHRAIN – An investment group on this Indian Ocean island nation has purchased a majority stake in EMS provider Victron.

Unicorn Investment Bank invested $70 million to acquire an 80% equity stake in the Fremont, CA-based EMS company. Its management team is expected to stay on.

"Victron combines strong execution capabilities with highly-flexible operations, resulting in a unique and highly-competitive business model," said Unicorn global private equity managing director Aamir Khan, in a statement.

Victron has a 130,000 sq. ft. manufacturing plant in Fremont.

"Our partnership with Unicorn will allow us to further leverage our core competencies to serve the growing number of companies with high-mix electronics needs," said Victron president Chris Lee. "We are excited at the opportunity of working with Unicorn's team to explore international expansion opportunities."

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Commerce has named industry veteran Dr. Jennie S. Hwang to the District Export Council.

Her four-year term begins this month and runs through Dec. 31, 2011.

BRIDGEVILLE, PA – Amherst Systems Associates has published a no-cost test script for their M1 Oscilloscope Tools software that enables DDR3 compliance testing on Tektronix, Agilent, LeCroy or Yokogawa oscilloscopes.

Visit www.ScopeApplications.com for more information.

ELKHART, IN – CTS Corp. named Donna L. Belusar senior vice president and chief financial officer, effective Jan. 21.

Belusar replaces Vinod M. Khilnani, who was appointed to president and chief executive in July.

Belusar has most recently served as executive CFO, Global Financing Americas Division of IBM Credit. She began her career with IBM in 1982.

ANGLETON, TX – EMS provider Benchmark Electronics announced it continues to expect fourth quarter revenue of between $700 million and $740 million.

RENTON, WA – Microscan has named former Siemens and Universal Instruments executive Jeff Timms president.

TOKYO – Some 90 years after its founding, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. is shedding its eponymous name.

As of Oct. 1, Japan’s second-largest technology company will officially assume the name Panasonic Corp., a nod to its global brand.

President Fumio Ohtsubo said the decision was difficult, but that the brand will benefit from shedding the original name for the better-known moniker.

The name change will become effective Oct. 1, pending shareholder approval.

Matsushita was founded in 1918 by then 23-year-old Konosuke Matsushita.

LAS VEGAS – The consumer electronics industry is projected to post a healthy 6.1% increase in revenues in 2008, according to the Consumer Electronics Association. Overall shipment revenues are forecast to top $171 billion this year.

“CE industry sales have exceeded our expectations once again, despite a challenging domestic economic situation,” said CEA president Gary Shapiro. “It’s clear that the spirit of innovation will continue to sustain and grow our industry.”

CEA says 2007 revenues totaled $161 billion, up 8.2% year-over-year.

2008’s growth is in line with the historical industry average and is well above expected growth levels for many other sectors, including housing and new vehicles, CEA says.

TV displays continue to drive consumer electronics, representing roughly 16% of overall shipment dollars. Shipments of displays are expected to grow 13% to more than $29 billion. Sales of next-generation DVD players will take off in 2008, as prices decline and consumers continue to seek out high quality home theater products. CEA forecasts unit shipments will grow 173% to 2.8 million.

“Consumers remain focused on upgrading their home theater systems,” noted Steve Koenig, CEA’s senior manager of industry analysis. “Already, digital TVs are present in more than 50% of U.S. households. 2008 will continue to feature robust growth in this category.”

Fueled by the availability of three next-generation consoles, gaming hardware alone is estimated to have grown 50% to $6.6 billion in 2007. Riding the wave of several successful title launches, gaming software is expected to drive growth in 2008. CEA expects software sales to grow 26% to $11.5 billion this year.

Total shipment revenues in the mobile video and navigation category will nearly double this year to more than $3.1 billion thanks to skyrocketing sales of PNDs. In particular, CEA expects rapid revenue growth of more than 74% for devices that include traffic and data functionality.

TAIPEI – Hon Hai Precision Industry, the parent company of Foxconn Electronics, reported 2007 revenues rose 42.5% year-over-year, hitting a record $38 billion.