SAN JOSE, CA – The global semiconductor materials market is expected to grow more than 10% in 2007, and is forecasted to grow another 10% next year, SEMI reports.
 
Growth is being driven by record numbers of semiconductor devices being manufactured and materials consumed in fabricating and packaging those devices, says the association.
 
Growth is expected both in wafer fab materials and packaging. Current estimates predict that fab materials will grow about 9% to $24 billion, and packaging materials will rise more than 13% to $16.6 billion this year, according to SEMI.
 
On a regional basis, both Japan and Taiwan are anticipated to remain the two largest material-consuming regions, followed by the South Korean and Southeast Asian regions.
 
The materials market in China grew 36% last year as the result of capacity coming online from renewed fab and assembly facility investments; it is expected that wafer fab materials will represent a larger portion of materials consumed in this region in the near future, says the association.
 

EL SEGUNDO, CA – The Indian A/V consumer electronics market will grow to $6.59 billion by 2011, a CAGR of 10% from $4.5 billion in 2007, iSuppli Corp. predicted in a report issued today.

India’s consumer electronics industry had a market size of $3.89 billion in 2006, catering to a population of more than one billion people, iSuppli says.

India’s growth will be aided by a growing consumer confidence because of rising disposable incomes; easy financing schemes making purchases possible; increased local manufacturing; expanding distribution networks, and sporting events, such as the Cricket World Cup, says iSuppli.

Television continues to be the mainstay of the consumer electronics industry in India, with the transition slowly occurring to newer technologies such as LCD and plasma, the company adds.

iSuppli expects domestic manufacturing to be a key characteristic of growth in the following years. Although electronics production has remained a miniscule portion of overall Indian manufacturing for a long time, the trend is gradually changing.

Domestic consumption is reaching significant size to trigger manufacturing in the electronics sector.

India also is assuming a significant place in the global plans of several major electronics manufacturers, thereby positioning it as an export base, says iSuppli.

Furthermore, fabless companies are suitable to cater to such development because they can assist in moving the industry up the value chain by creating design-service opportunities for the Indian market.

EMS and ODM companies in India have been associated with several design companies, although such relationships represent an extension of global relationships. However, some local partnerships also are appearing, such as Flextronics’ deal with inSilica for the development of system-on-chip packages, says the company.

As the local market gains size, these associations will become more common, the firm believes.

iSuppli says challenges facing the India consumer electronics industry include declining margins for many players; inverted duty structure; expansion of distribution reach; creating awareness about new technologies and products, and low affordability level of consumer products among the rural masses.

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FREMONT, CA – Dage Precision Industries this week released a self-authored reference booklet, High-Speed Bondtesting – Understanding the Technology.

The teaching aid and reference guide provides information about reliability testing of BGA and CSP solder ball interconnections. The contents also include information on the theory and practice of high-speed bondtesting, impact testing applications, evaluation of pad finishes and solder ball alloys, and Pb-free solder ball joint evaluation and brittle fracture joint failure analysis.

The book is 30 pages and illustrated with images and diagrams, and can be obtained by contacting sales@dage-group.com.
 

EL SEGUNDO, CA – The market for Internet TV service will reach $5.8 billion in 2011, up 13.7 times from $422.7 million in 2006, iSuppli Corp. predicts.

The Web is quickly growing into the world’s largest on-demand, interactive video library. The Internet also is evolving into the most ubiquitous video distribution platform ever known, says the firm.

iSuppli notes that as more consumer electronic devices like TVs, DVD players, game consoles, iPods and portable gadgets become Web-connected, Internet TV will leap from computer screens into the consumer’s primary media environment: the living room TV.

With Internet TV, content owners face the trade-off of “reach” versus “control,” while video network operators face a new way to reach consumers, as well as a new competitive threat that could put pressure on their long-term position in the market.

Meanwhile, a variety of Internet portal companies, content delivery networks, software platform companies and other technology providers embrace the revenue opportunity, says the researcher.

iSuppli also found that while news was the largest revenue category for advertising supporting professionally generated Internet TV in 2006, it will be third by 2009, behind sports and entertainment. Also, bandwidth required for Internet TV will grow by more than 44 times from 2006 to 2011 to almost 7 million Tebibytes, the company says.

Internet TV will be dominated by North America and Western Europe, says iSuppli. Regions such as Latin America and Eastern Europe will not have significant Internet TV penetration through 2011.
 

 
 
 
 

 

HONG KONG – VTech Holdings Ltd. reported record revenue and profit for 2007. Revenue increased 21.5% over 2006 to $1.46 billion. Net profits rose 42% to $182.9 million.

The company’s EMS business grew by some 13.5% during 2006, primarily on higher demand from existing customers, especially switching mode power supplies, professional audio equipment and industrial printing.

A new plant at Qingyuan, Guangdong province, is beginning to make a positive impact, VTech believes. This quarter, a new EMS factory will open, increasing its capacity by some 50%. The company also intends to build a second factory at Qingyuan.

While Europe remained the leading source of EMS revenue, at 48.4%, the EMS group saw strong demand from North America customers, which pushed the region’s share to 7.1 points to 36.6%. Asia Pacific made up 15% of EMS revenues.

Switching mode power supplies and professional audio equipment continued to be the leading product categories, accounting for 28.2% and 27.7% of total EMS revenue respectively, followed by communications products and home appliances, the company reports.

Growth for the CMS business is expected to moderate, as existing customers mature and newer customers only gradually build up orders, but it should again outperform the EMS market, says VTech.

The Japanese market will be a focus for business development, with separate facilities and a new sales office.
 

NORTH YORKSHIRE, UK – Eleven staff at GSPK Electronics have been let go after the company was placed in administration.

Mark Firmin and Richard Fleming of KPMG were appointed joint administrators of GSPK Electronics on Friday.

A spokesman said it’s too early to say if there will be any further job losses among the remaining 104 staff.

Firmin said the business has been hit by a significant overseas bad debt and does not have sufficient funding to continue trading outside of bankruptcy.

GSPK manufactures electronics products for the television, telecommunications and automotive sectors.

 

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