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News

ANGLETON, TX – EMS firm Benchmark Electronics today announced net income was $25.9 million for the second quarter, a 6% drop from the same period last year.

WASHINGTON, DC — Total factory-to-dealer sales of consumer electronics will surpass $160 billion in 2007, according to Consumer Electronics Association. The association’s semiannual U.S. Consumer Electronics Sales and Forecasts projects 8% industry growth for the year.

More than 60 companies contributed to this latest report, and coverage of existing product categories was expanded to include HDTVs, personal computers and cellular phones. Among new product categories are set-top boxes, next-generation DVD players, VoIP adapters, digital photo frames, smartphones and MP3 player speaker docks.

Accessories have emerged as a powerful booster to overall CE sales, says CEA. The association predicts accessory sales will reach almost $9 billion, with more than 317 million units shipped this year.

The largest contributor in terms of dollar sales continues to be display technologies, adds CEA. Forecasted to reach shipment totals of $26 billion, the display category, including flat screen digital TVs, continues to grow with more than 30 million digital televisions projected to ship by year's end.

The portable communications market will also grow substantially. CEA projects more than $20 billion will be spent on portable devices, an increase of 12% year-over-year. This is in part a result of consumer demand for devices that enable entertainment content and business applications on the go, says CEA.

The association claims smartphones, including the Apple iPhone, typify consumer demand for converged wireless capabilities, including e-mail, Internet browsing, instant messaging, and audio and video entertainment.

HAMPSTEAD, NH – P.D. Circuits Inc., a leading PWB distributor, has completed Phase 1 of its China PWB Supply Chain Management group development. In the program's first year, the company hired a group manager, registered the company, established an office in Shenzhen, and set up its initial China bare board inspection facility.

Since that time, P.D. Circuits has added an operations manager, a process engineer and QC inspectors. Two of the new employees have also certified to IPC-A-600G and initiated training and inspection visits to P. D.’s manufacturing partners.

NEWARK, NY — EMS provider IEC Electronics Corp. reported third-quarter net profit rose 700% to $553,000, while sales jumped 110% to $11.2 million.

Fiscal year-to-date net profits are $579,000 on sales of $31.3 million. Both figures are up strongly over last year's revenue of $14.6 million and net loss of $137,000.

The company added 20 employees during the quarter, which ended June 29.

In a statement, chairman and CEO W. Barry Gilbert said order backlogs are "reasonably higher" than the $21.7 million figure reported at the end of fiscal 2006. Growth came from existing acounts; IEC did not add any new customers during the quarter.

NEENAH, WI - Plexus Corp., a top EMS firm, reported third-quarter net profits fell 38% on a 4.4% drop in sales.

RUSHFORD, MN - RiverBend Electronics Ltd. announced the opening of a 30,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility in Rushford, MN.

The plant will focus on low-volume electronic assembly.

RiverBend says it created the business out of a need for product startup and end-of-life services in the industry. The company will provide circuit board assembly, box build, product distribution and any related process requirements.

PALO ALTO, CA – Revenues of ICs used in the world’s automobile market will grow 34% by 2010 from $6.8 billion last year, Frost & Sullivan said today.

The proliferation of automobile electronic content is a result of government pollution guidelines, safety and security regulations, and the ongoing oil crisis, says the research firm. This growing need directly influences the markets of automobile application specific integrated circuits, application specific standard parts, and field programmable gate arrays.

In addition, rising fuel prices in the world market feed the demand for electric and hybrid vehicles, which in turn can boost the growth of electronics in automobiles, the company adds.

Sales of ASICs, ASSPs, and FPGAs have improved because of integrated solutions, which have enabled manufacturers to lower costs by reducing the number of microcontrollers in automobiles.

Mandatory government regulations to enforce safety and security have greatly contributed to the growth of this market, Frost says. In Europe, regulations such as the electronic stability program, antilock braking system, and electronically controlled independent suspension will likely help generate substantial revenues.

In the Asian region, increasing sales of automobiles drives the growth of ASICs, ASSPs, and FPGAs markets, and the Asian market also has the potential to become the key contributor to overall revenues, the firm believes.

Intense competition in the market exists, however, especially among the ASIC and ASSP segments. These products are characterized by higher nonrecurring engineering and take a longer time to market.

Technological developments can help reduce the time to market and NRE cost in ASIC and ASSP. Similarly, developments in FPGAs can lower the unit and integration costs and improve performance, says Frost.

Chipmakers can further resist competition by creating an extensive portfolio of core designs, developing electronic design automation software tools, and engaging with OEM customers in accelerating the market share of programmable logic devices.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – At just beyond the midyear point, all signs point to the PC market attaining the annual forecast of 11.2% growth in unit shipments, says iSuppli Corp.

NORTH BILLERICA, MA – Soldering equipment supplier BTU International announced second-quarter net sales fell 39% year-over-year to $13.8 million.

MINNEAPOLIS – CyberOptics Corp. reported consolidated sales of $13.97 million in the second quarter, up 1.8% from the first quarter, and down 4% year-over-year.

Net income totaled $1.2 million, up 4% over the first quarter, and down 37% from year a ago.

Sales and earnings exceeded the company’s previously issued guidance.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – The Chinese government is offering 3G licenses to the four state-owned telcos – China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom and China Netcom – as incentives, if they are willing to accept reforms, according to iSuppli.

The National Development & Reform Commission believes a fundamental restructuring of the nation’s telecom industry is essential to promote the long-term growth of the country’s fixed and wireless core communications networks, says the firm.

Much of the responsibility for reforms reportedly can be attributed to China Mobile. The company has a near monopoly in China’s mobile communications market with $37.8 billion in revenue, accounting for 76% of the nation’s total mobile communications revenue. China Mobile also had a net profit of $8.5 billion last year, which is 10 times the profit of China Unicom, three times that of China Telecom and six times that of China Netcom, says iSuppli.

iSuppli says China’s core fixed and wireless networks are transitioning to IP-based next-generation networks. Furthermore, increasing numbers of media gateways and servers will allow China’s telecom networks to deploy advanced support services, video content distribution and online gaming. Mobile handsets will have to incorporate more advanced multimedia capabilities and open operating systems, according to the researcher.

Releasing 3G licenses in China has become a political issue, says iSuppli. The biggest barrier to introducing 3G services is the high level of licensing fees that must be paid by Chinese operators, mobile infrastructure suppliers and handset manufacturers. Much of the postponement is coming from the Chinese government, which is still negotiating with companies such as Qualcomm and Siemens, which own many of the 3G technology patents, adds the firm.

iSuppli believes China will issue three licenses during the first half of 2008, and is certain that China Mobile will be given a license to deploy TD-SCDMA networks. China is not expected to deploy more than three national 3G networks, as regulators aim to reduce capital expenditures through base-station site-sharing arrangements, as well as radio access network and core-network sharing.

iSuppli forecasts that China’s TD-SCDMA 3G subscribers will jump to 28 million by 2011, up from 1.1 million subscribers this year. By 2008, 3G subscribers in China will reach 6.4 million. For each of these subscribers, a new mobile handset will be required, offering a selling opportunity for many companies inside the wireless telecom industry.

However, iSuppli says a key revenue driver in China will come from the applications that will be enabled by 3G. Chinese consumers will be able to access the Internet, download music, stream Internet video, use mobile mailboxes, pay bills online and engage in mobile blogging and interactive 3D gaming—all through their mobile phones.

iSuppli forecasts China’s 3G value-added services market will grow to $19.5 billion in revenue by 2011, up 45% from 2006, maintaining a CAGR of 17.4%.

QINHUANGDAO, CHINA – Foxconn plans to invest $1 billion in the manufacturing of electronics products over the next three years in Qinhuangdao, according to Xinhua.net.

The company will build an industrial park in the Beidaihe district of Qinhuangdao, according to Terry Gou, president of Hon Hai Precision, the parent company of Foxconn.

The park will contain nanotechnology R&D centers and electronics manufacturing factories for PCBs and signal transmitters. The location reportedly will create 35,000 jobs, says Foxconn.

Qinhuangdao is situated in Hebei province, about 300 km east of Beijing.

In February, Foxconn started a $99- million project in Langfang City, located between Beijing and Tianjin City in northern China.