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News

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.

SANTA CLARA, CA -- EMS provider NBS Design Inc. will move into a new facility in Santa Clara later this year, the company said today. The 40,000 sq. ft. custom-built PCB layout, assembly and manufacturing test facility will be operational in the fourth quarter.

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.

ATLANTA – UP Media Group Inc., parent company of Circuits Assembly and Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture, has issued a call for abstracts for PCB East 2008, which will be held May 11-16 at the Holiday Inn Select and Convention Center in Tinley Park, IL.

STOCKHOLM – Note will acquire 50% of a Philippines-based Ionics EMS facility in China, the company said today. The deal is expected to be accretive to sales and earnings starting in 2008. No other financial terms were disclosed.

BEIJING – The China Communications Standards Association has created a task force to study an e-waste recycling standard and a mandatory standard for testing detrimental chemicals in electronic products.

The latter will require all electronics communications products manufactured in the region to be tested prior to being available, according to a ChinaTechNews.com report.

The standard will emulate WEEE and RoHS to help China firms maintain components that comply with EU policies, especially companies that export products to Europe.

The study team will help the association supervise environment testing capabilities in China.

BINGHAMTON, NY – The parent company of Universal Instruments and Vitronics Soltec named group chairman Jean-Luc Pelissier chief executive, effective Oct. 1.

ROME, NY – The ESD Association and Canada’s Automated Learning Corp. have announced a training course in electrostatic discharge control.

The course is intended for electronics manufacturers who require controls for ESD-sensitive components and assemblies, and can be custom-tailored to meet company-specific ESD control program needs.

ESDA Operator Training is reportedly the first computer-delivered ESD training to provide this content-tailoring feature.

While primarily intended for assembly operators and semiconductor technicians, this comprehensive ESD training course can benefit anyone involved in electronics manufacturing, the companies suggest.

The course features the ALC LearnTech computer-based training system that delivers course content over a corporate network and includes automated registration and record keeping.

For more information, visit http://www.automatedlearning.com/products/ESDAOperatorTraining.cfm.