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News

BUCKINGHAMSHIRE, UK – Aegis Software (Europe) Ltd. has moved its European headquarters here and named Daniel Walls European managing director.

The manufacturing information management systems provider’s new site includes a larger training center, among other features.

Walls joined Aegis in 1997 as controller and chief financial officer, and was also a regional sales manager.

“Aegis sees Europe as a very important manufacturing market,” said CEO Jason Spera in a statement. “Our new European headquarters, along with appointing Walls as managing director confirms our commitment and ensures manufacturers in Europe the high level of customer service and quality products.”

NEW YORK -- The World Trade Organization this week opened a formal investigation on allegations that China is providing a safe haven for product piracy and counterfeiting.

The WTO panel's scope will be limited to whether Beijing has taken sufficient action to protect IP rights, but it could ultimately authorize U.S. trade sanctions against China valued at billions of dollars annually -- the amount the U.S. claims its companies lose because of China's alleged lax enforcement. A final decision could take years.

China publicy complained about the measure, which the country blames on the U.S. It said it is going after companies and invidivuals who infringe U.S. copyrights and trademarks, and the U.S.'s actions could hurt trade relations between the two nations.

China last month blocked a U.S.-led attempt to form a panel. WTO rules prevented the country from delaying the investigation a second time.

NASHVILLE — Kyzen Corp. today announced the inauguration of its Know the Score! database, a single point of reference for the extensive test data the supplier of cleaning materials has built over the years.

Over the course of years, Kyzen's labs have conducted extensive test protocols, collecting tens of thousands of data points from legacy IT systems that are spread throughout the company's global operations. The new tool permits real-time access to these vast data, permitting an accurate, statistically validated product and process recommendation.

“We now have real-time access to every data point Kyzen collects worldwide — in one place,” said Ram Wissel, engineering manager, in a prepared statement. “This will speed both product development and technical support on a global basis, adding value to our customer development programs and routine daily operations.”

Kyzen is the winner of the 2007 Circuits Assembly Service Excellence Award for Cleaning Materials, based on direct feedback from users.

ORLANDO, FL -- The SMTA's Moisture Sensitive Devices Council will meet hold an open session Oct. 10, in Orlando.

The group, which is chaired by Mumtaz Bora of Kyocera and Michelle Ogihara of Seika Machinery,
will review industry standards (J-STD-033B, J-STD-020D), moisture and reflow classification for lead-free passives, PWB and lead-free package handling, problem avoidance, failure modes of lead-free assembly, and classification of packages such as SiP/SoP/PoP, among other topics.

There is no charge to attend the meeting, which begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Gaylord Palms Hotel, in conjunction with SMTAI.

CARLSBAD, CA -- Asymtek has opened a technical support and sales office in Chennai, India, to keep up with a fast-growing region for electronics assembly that is host to many of the company's customers.

Asymtek established the facility to support the area’s expanding markets and offer local support. The new office is colocated with parent company Nordson Corp., and provides on-site equipment service, training and applications assistance

N. Shivakumar was named regional sales manager, responsible for Chennai’s operations, including applications engineering, sales and service for Asymtek’s complete line of dispensing and conformal coating products. He also oversees the region’s distributor network and works closely with Asymtek’s regional sales managers and technical support departments.

Shivakumar has over 13 years' experience in sales and business development in India, including five years in capital equipment sales.

EL SEGUNDO, CA — iSuppli Corp. today cut its forecast for global semiconductor revenue growth this year to 3.5%, down from 6%, adding that a seasonal recovery and higher demand and pricing are spurring a second-half recovery.

MILPITAS, CA – Lenthor Engineering today announced its new flex and rigid-flex board assembly services.

The company, which also designs and fabricates rigid-flex and flex printed wiring boards, said it invested some $850,000 in capital equipment for assembly operations.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. held onto its lead in the global television market in the second quarter, thanks to its strength in LCD-TV shipments, according to iSuppli Corp.

The South Korean electronics giant managed a 12.4% market share in the overall television unit shipments, with fellow Korean firm LG Electronics coming in second with 11.4%, Philips in third with 7.1%, Sanyo in fourth with 6.3% and TCL taking the fifth rank with a 5.6% share, iSuppli says. China’s TCL, the one-time leader, continued to lose ground in the market as shipments slowed, following the end of the New Year’s shopping season.

The overall television market will expand at a CAGR of 4% between 2007 and 2011 for unit shipments, and 5% for revenue. iSuppli forecasts overall global television shipments will grow to 245.5 million units by 2011, up 15% from 2007 and up 22% from 2006.

It isn’t news that CRT-TV units, revenues and average selling prices will decline during the next five years because of a lack of consumer interest, waning OEM production and rising consumer demand for LCD-TVs and other flat-panel sets, iSuppli states.

What is news is that there are still regional markets for CRT TVs, the firm adds.
The Asia/Pacific region is leading the way with 37% of total CRT-TV shipments in the second quarter, following by China with 21% and Europe with 15%. India is becoming the largest market for CRT TVs in the Asia/Pacific region, as slimmer CRTs encourage consumers to buy, says iSuppli.

TAMPA, FL – Genesis Electronics Manufacturing Inc. announced the addition of another medical device customer to its base of electronics manufacturing clients.

A Genesis spokesperson declined to give financial or other specifics, citing a non-disclosure agreement. However, he said that on an annualized basis, the program would likely represent a 10% increase to incremental revenues. He further stated that Genesis is currently executing orders at the assembly level, and the company anticipates adding total box-build in November.

As an EMS supplier, Genesis attained ISO: 13485 certification in 2003. Since that time, the medical device market has become its fastest growing business segment, the company reported.

"Medical device customers account for about 28% of our manufacturing business," said president Scott Mauldin. "By year end we anticipate our medical customers will make up 30% of our manufacturing revenue.”

Genesis now has five medical customers for which it builds more than 100 different assemblies.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Since the start of 2006, awareness of GPS-based navigation technology has exploded into the public consciousness, moving rapidly from the “nice-to-have” to the “must-have” category, says iSuppli Corp.

The current star of the GPS market is the personal navigation device segment, which continues to develop rapidly as vendors cut prices to maintain their share of sales amid tough competition, the firm adds.

However, with PNDs now in the growth phase of their product lifecycle, prices have gone south, with the ASP falling 23% year-over-year in 2006, according to iSuppli. In spite of these dramatic price cuts, the revenue from PNDs is expected to increase by four-fold between 2006 and 2013, with manufacturers keen to get their hands on a $16.5 billion jackpot in 2013, the firm continues.

iSuppli estimates 40 companies now are offering GPS navigation capabilities on a range of products, from PNDs and embedded systems, to smart phones.

The navigation market used to be clearly segmented into two separate product families: embedded systems and PNDs.

The more costly embedded systems offer the benefits of integration with improved positional accuracy on a large dash-mounted display. PNDs offer most of the important navigation features on a device priced for the consumer mass market, iSuppli notes.

“The general interest in GPS solutions has created a third entrant in the market: the smart phone,” said Richard Robinson, principal analyst for automotive electronics at iSuppli. “Smart phones have the capability to offer wireless Internet connectivity, as well as improved positional accuracy in difficult geographic locations using Assisted-GPS.”

iSuppli expects shipments of GPS-enabled mobile handsets to reach 250 million units by 2010, up from more than 70 million units in 2006.

PHOENIX – Avnet Inc. announced it plans to acquire Berlin-based passive components distributor Betronik GmbH. No other terms were announced.

Betronik reported 2006 revenues of approximately $40 million. It employs about 80 people in its logistics center in Berlin, seven sales offices across Germany and one in France. The acquisition is subject to final approval by German antitrust authorities.

Betronik and French subsidiary DEL S.A. will be combined with Avnet Time in Germany and France, respectively. The newly formed business will operate within Avnet Electronics Marketing EMEA under the Avnet Time brand.

As a result of the merger, Ingeborg and Horst Mergener, managing directors and founders of Betronik, will lead the sales organizations in Germany, reporting to Michael Danylow, president of Avnet Time.