HUNTSVILLE – The Conformal Coating & Fluid Dispensing Technology Seminar will take place Sept. 13 at the Huntsville Marriott in Huntsville, AL.
The free seminar will focus on the latest developments in coating, assembly materials and jet dispensing technology; military applications; tin whiskers and how to avoid them.
Participants will learn about different coating materials and the best ways to select, cure and apply them, including aqueous, acrylic, silicone, and heat-humidity cure materials; tin whiskers and how to avoid them; fluid jetting processes and material applications; the advantages of non-contact jetting underfill and other fluid materials for electronics assembly.
Speakers at this event include Asymtek, Nordson, Dow Corning, Dymax, Henkel Technologies and Humiseal.
LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL – ECTC requests 750-word abstracts on papers representing developments and knowledge in the following areas: advanced packaging; materials and processing; electronics components and RF; modeling and simulation; emerging technologies; optoelectronics; interconnections; posters; manufacturing technology, and quality and reliability.
Proposals are also solicited for educational short courses (4 hours) on topics described in the call for papers. Proposals including course descriptions must be submitted at www.ectc.net.
The deadline for abstracts is Oct. 15.
Authors will be notified of acceptance with instructions for publication by Dec. 15.
The first 100 abstracts will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a free registration.
Manuscripts are due in final form for publication by Feb. 25.
FRANKLIN, MA – On Oct. 18, Speedline will present a free Webcast on upstream solder joint defect inspection and the transition from “quality through inspection” to “quality through design,” with a concentration on the printing process.
The one-hour presentation will begin at 11 a.m. EST.
Specific areas of discussion will include an overview of the printing process; different inspection techniques; the effects of components and paste types on defects, and a review of experimental research currently underway. The ultimate goal is to predict the likelihood of solder joint defects before they occur, and to adjust design and processes to limit their occurrence.
EL SEGUNDO, CA – Lenovo Group Ltd. regained the No. 3 ranking in the global PC market in the second quarter, but Acer Inc.’s aggressive acquisition strategy leaves analysts wondering how long Lenovo will maintain its rank.
Chinese PC OEM Lenovo shipped 4.9 million PCs worldwide in the quarter, up 22.9% sequentially, according to preliminary data compiled by iSuppli Corp. This marked the largest increase among the world’s top 10 PC suppliers – although it was only marginally ahead of the 17% sequential growth achieved by Apple Inc., says the research firm.
Hewlett-Packard cemented its position as the worldwide leader in PC shipments for the quarter. iSuppli’s latest PC forecast calls for unit growth of 11.7% in 2007 compared to 2006.
On a unit basis, Lenovo’s shipments rose by 908,000 sequentially. Lenovo reclaimed its rank from Acer, which took the No. 3 place from Lenovo in the first quarter.
This was a remarkable accomplishment, considering that overall shipments declined sequentially during the period, decreasing by 1.7%, or by 1.03 million units, says iSuppli.
Meanwhile, Acer’s PC shipments declined by 0.2%, iSuppli states.
Lenovo should enjoy its time in third – because iSuppli believes it may not last for long.
Acer’s planned acquisitions of Packard Bell and Gateway will afford the company approximately 2.5 percentage points of market share. If those acquisitions were figured into the second-quarter rankings, Acer would have retained its third-place ranking, according to the firm.
As a result of the planned acquisitions, Acer is expected to take a firm grip of the third-place position in the coming quarters, iSuppli concludes.
HP’s shipments rose to 11.2 million units, up 4.4% sequentially – and up by a whopping 35% year-over-year. HP’s market share rose to 18.3%, up from 17.2% in the previous quarter. The company’s growth in PC shipments outpaced the expansion of the overall PC industry by nearly a factor of three, says iSuppli.
Meanwhile, second-ranked Dell posted a 5.6% sequential increase in shipments. However, Dell’s shipments were down by 5% year-over-year, reflecting the company’s continued struggles, iSuppli reports.
Despite this, the shipment gap between Dell and HP remained constant between the second and first quarters, at 1.7 million units.
Four of the top five PC OEMs posted a sequential increase in sales, says the firm. Furthermore, four of the top five experienced double-digit growth year-over-year.
As a result, the proportion of quarterly shipments supplied by smaller OEMs in the “Others” category declined on both a year-over-year and a sequential basis in the second quarter, adds iSuppli.
The top three Asian PC vendors – Lenovo, Acer, and Toshiba – generated 56.3% of the combined shipments of HP and Dell, up from 54% in the first quarter.
This serves as a reminder of the strength of the North American vendors, but also illustrates that the Asian PC OEMs can increase their penetration of the market – even without major acquisitions, says iSuppli.
The notebook segment continued to drive growth in the overall PC market, with second-quarter growth of 27% on a year-over-year basis.
Apple reported the highest sequential growth in notebook shipments of the top 10 PC OEMs, at 27%. Lenovo reported the second highest sequential growth, says iSuppli.
SANTA ANA, CA — Christopher Associates today announced an agreement to distribute and provide engineering support for First EIE's photoplotters and inkjet printers in the North America.
In support of First EIE, Christopher Associates has located a complete spare parts inventory in Santa Ana with engineering support throughout North America.
First EIE has a reported 500 photoplotters installations worldwide.
SACRAMENTO, CA – The California state Air Resources Board yesterday proposed a host of environmental rules aimed at reducing greenhouse gases from a variety of sectors including semiconductor makers.
LOUISVILLE — EMS and military components supplier Sypris Solutions today raised its financial outlook for 2007 to reflect a settlement with a large customer involved in bankruptcy proceedings.
MOUANS SARTOUX CEDEX, FRANCE -- Automated optical inspection OEM ViTechnology named Jean-Yves Gomez, 46, chief executive officer.
He had been with STMicroelectronics since 1984, most recently as head of the imaging division, which developed camera modules including sensors, mechanics and optics.
BALVE, GERMANY – The previously announced merger between Cobar Group BV and Balver Zinn became official today, as ownership of Cobar was transferred to the non-ferrous metals producer.
BOSTON -- Teradyne Inc. and Solectron Corp. last month extended their standard manufacturing agreement to include additional manufacturing and test requirements, including final, configuration and test for most of Teradyne's Flex family of
products.
The work for the new requirements will be done by Solectron's
Suzhou subsidiary. The agreement with Solectron will
expire in 2010, and may be automatically extended for
subsequent annual terms.
The companies did not specify the value of the extended agreement.