Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

TAIPEI – Hon Hai, Taiwan's top electronic parts maker, is likely to buy part of the stake Philips wants to sell in South Korea's LG.Philips LCD, local newspapers reported.

Economic Daily News said the move could help Innolux Display, a screen maker that assembles LCD monitors under the Hon Hai group, secure more panels.

Hon Hai officials were not available for comment.

Dutch company Philips Electronics owns about a one-third stake in LG.Philips LCD, the world's No.2 LCD maker, worth about $5.4 billion at current market prices, according to Reuters data.

Philips has said it plans to sell at least part of its stake in LG.Philips once its ownership lockup expires this month.

Japan's Matsushita and Toshiba have also been mentioned as possible candidates to buy Philips' shares.

Earlier this week, the head of LG.Philips LCD said Philips is unlikely to sell its stake in the market, although such a transaction could not be ruled out.

SEOUL – Samsung Electronics’ second-quarter net profit fell 5% year-over-year, says its quarterly report. And profits were down 11% from the first quarter, driven in part by DRAM price decline.

FRANKLIN, MA – Speedline Technologies will present a Webcast on reduction/elimination of two common SMT defects: tombstoning and mid-chip solder balls. The one-hour presentation takes place Aug. 16 at 11 a.m. EDT.

The Webinar will review some of the studies and experiments conducted to determine and eliminate the causes of tombstoning. Specific areas of analysis will include solderability, paste volume, placement issues, and pad surface area/design criteria.

Topics to be reviewed in discussing mid-chip solder ball elimination will include stencil design, board design, reflow profile development, component placement accuracy, and solder paste printing.

To register, visit www.speedlinetech.com/seminars.

MINNEAPOLIS, MN – The 2007 Charles Hutchins Grant Award, cosponsored by Circuits Assembly and SMTA, has been given to Gayatri Cuddalorepatta for her project, Cyclic Plasticity vs. Cyclic Creep Fatigue of SnAgCu (SAC) Solder: A Micromechanics Approach.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – IC Insights believes Asia-Pacific will continue to gain marketshare and represent almost one-third (32%) of worldwide IC sales in 2011.

Asia-Pacific companies have grown from holding only 2% of the IC market in 1985 to 26% in 2006, says IC Insights. The Asia-Pacific supplier segment is primarily composed of Taiwanese, South Korean, and Chinese companies.

After reaching a high of 51% in 1988, Japanese IC suppliers have displayed a steady decline in marketshare; in 2006, the Japan-headquartered companies' share dropped to only 17% of the IC market. IC Insights believes Japanese companies will continue to lose IC marketshare during the next five years, to a 14% share in 2011.

In 2006, IC companies headquartered in the Americas region held almost half of the worldwide IC sales marketshare, says the firm.

Since 1982, European companies have always held 8-10% of the worldwide IC market. IC Insights believes European companies will stay in this range through 2011.

NANJING, CHINA — Kimball Electronics Group has begun production at its 132,400 sq. ft. facility in Nanjing, the company said today.

SARASOTA, FL — Inovaxe Corp. announced free inventory management software with each Inocart purchase effective Aug. 1.

The software provides inventory-tracking benefits, in addition to part number and quantity.

Component Add allows users to scan a bin, a component part number, inventory quantity, and to identify package status, RoHS-compliance status or vendor consignment status. It also features print label functionality.

Inventory View allows users to display all bins in the location on a single page display, while Component Remove scans a bin and presents the quantity available, allowing users to type the quantity they would like to remove.

SHENZHEN, CHINA – Endicott Interconnect Technologies has conditionally qualified its assembly operation for high-volume commercial applications in Shenzhen, and is ramping for full production.

The company leases 40,000 sq. ft. of production space in Lorom Industrial Co.’s Shenzhen facility, and has installed production equipment to support the operation.

Under the agreement, EI will provide all materials, technical know-how and training. The company will maintain control of design, new product introduction activity, specifications, quality requirements, sales and technical support worldwide.

Lorom will be responsible for facility maintenance, production staff and general support.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL – EMS company SigmaTron International Inc. reported revenues increased 32.9% to $165.9 million in 2007, up from $124.8 million in 2006.

Net income decreased to $1.7 million, compared to $1.9 million last year.

For the fourth quarter, revenues increased to $39.5 million compared to $34.5 million year-over-year.

ATLANTA – A new Excel spreadsheet tool aids users in determining the best surface finish for a particular design. The tool was created by Bob Lazarra, former designer and now vice president of business development for PWB fabricator CircuitConnect.

ANAHEIM, CA – Flexible circuit maker Multi-Fineline Electronix today said third-quarter net sales unexpectedly declined sequentially due to an ongoing decline in sales to its largest customer.