News
EDINA, MN – The Pan Pacific Symposium Technical Committee requests abstracts for the SMTA’s 13th annual Pan Pac Microelectronics event.
The conference will be held at the Sheraton Kauai Resort, Jan. 22 – 24, 2008.
The committee is looking for papers on packaging, interconnection, business issues, markets, assembly, and microsystems technology.
The deadline for abstracts is July 20. Abstracts can be submitted online.
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.
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.
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.
HOOFDDORP, THE NETHERLANDS and SALT LAKE CITY, UT – Basell will purchase chemicals giant Huntsman Corp. in a deal valued at approximately $9.6 billion, including assumption of debt. The boards for both companies have unanimously approved the deal.
ADDISON, TX – Interconnect supplier AirBorn has acquired StrataFlex and Central Minnesota Tool. Terms of the transactions were not disclosed.
Toronto-based StrataFLEX designs and manufactures flexible printed circuits and assemblies for the military/aerospace, medical instrumentation and industrial markets.
Little Falls, MN-based CMT provides turnkey stamping, moldings and automation capability for assembly, for automotive, military/aerospace, medical instrumentation and telecom.
“This is a significant step forward for AirBorn,” says Cindy Lewis, president and CEO of AirBorn, in a statement. “Growth in the flex circuit market has outpaced growth in standard connectors."
CLINTON, NY – Indium Corp. will globally market and manufacture Metallic Resources’ patent-pending Cobalt995 Pb-free alloy. Terms were not disclosed.
Cobalt995 is an alternative to SAC alloys that Metallic Resources markets for wave, HASL, and SMT applications. Indium will develop complimentary and compatible cored wire and solder paste products and its bar solder for wave applications.
Metallic Resources is a supplier of solders and materials for electronics assembly and metal joining.
Indium supplies electronics assembly and semiconductor packaging materials, including solder pastes, solder preforms, fluxes, underfills, die-attach materials and more.
Cobalt995 is an alternative to SAC alloys that Metallic Resources markets for wave, HASL, and SMT applications. Indium will develop complimentary and compatible cored wire and solder paste products and its bar solder for wave applications.
Metallic Resources is a supplier of solders and materials for electronics assembly and metal joining.
Indium supplies electronics assembly and semiconductor packaging materials, including solder pastes, solder preforms, fluxes, underfills, die-attach materials and more.
SMYRNA, GA – Circuits Assembly magazine (www.circuitsassembly.com) today announced that Heather McCormick and Curtis Williams have been added to its Editorial Advisory Board, effective immediately.
The Editorial Advisory Board helps guide the editorial content of Circuits Assembly, providing advice on topics and potential authors. Two current EAB members, Chrys Shea of Cookson and John Borneman of Delco, will remain on the EAB for the upcoming year.
McCormick is a process development engineer in the Corporate Process Development team at Celestica. She holds a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Ottawa. McCormick has been working on assessing the manufacturability and reliability of connectors and BGAs, and on the reliability of lead-free processes for the last seven years. She was awarded Honorable Mention for International Conference Paper at APEX 2006, and won Best International Paper at SMTAI 2006.
Williams is vice president of sales and marketing for ACC Electronix Inc., a Tier IV electronic manufacturing service provider based in Normal, IL. He has been in sales and sales management within the EMS industry for the past 14 years. He also has been a board member of the Great Lakes (Chicago) Chapter of the SMTA for the past three years, serving as secretary, and is a frequent presenter at SMTA conferences.
The Editorial Advisory Board helps guide the editorial content of Circuits Assembly, providing advice on topics and potential authors. Two current EAB members, Chrys Shea of Cookson and John Borneman of Delco, will remain on the EAB for the upcoming year.
McCormick is a process development engineer in the Corporate Process Development team at Celestica. She holds a bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Ottawa. McCormick has been working on assessing the manufacturability and reliability of connectors and BGAs, and on the reliability of lead-free processes for the last seven years. She was awarded Honorable Mention for International Conference Paper at APEX 2006, and won Best International Paper at SMTAI 2006.
Williams is vice president of sales and marketing for ACC Electronix Inc., a Tier IV electronic manufacturing service provider based in Normal, IL. He has been in sales and sales management within the EMS industry for the past 14 years. He also has been a board member of the Great Lakes (Chicago) Chapter of the SMTA for the past three years, serving as secretary, and is a frequent presenter at SMTA conferences.
OSLO, NORWAY – According to a statement circulated by the UK Department of Trade and Industry, Norway plans to ban the import of several substances in consumer products.
CHEVY CHASE, MD – A trade group study examining opportunities for UV and electron beam technologies in printed electronics applications is nearing completion.
An executive summary will be presented July 23 at a RadTech meeting in Chicago. RadTech is a trade association for companies interested in UV and EB technologies.
Among the areas studied: conductive inks; RFID; displays; lighting; batteries; photovoltaics; circuitry; memory; sensors; clothing and textiles.
The event is free, but advanced registration is required. Contact RadTech at uveb@radtech.org.
An executive summary will be presented July 23 at a RadTech meeting in Chicago. RadTech is a trade association for companies interested in UV and EB technologies.
Among the areas studied: conductive inks; RFID; displays; lighting; batteries; photovoltaics; circuitry; memory; sensors; clothing and textiles.
The event is free, but advanced registration is required. Contact RadTech at uveb@radtech.org.
SAN FRANCISCO – Deutsche Bank remains optimistic that PC unit growth will accelerate through year-end.
The firm believes current expectations of 10 to 11% unit growth will trend up toward the company’s previous estimate of 15% year-over-year growth, the result of continued strength in emerging markets, consumer and the beginning stages of a corporate PC upgrade cycle in the second half of the year.
Inventory correction has been largely cleared and manufacturing trends are firming, says DB. A relatively benign PC pricing environment continues, the company adds.
Evidence of an accelerating PC demand trend is visible among Taiwanese manufacturers; Quanta Computer increased its forecast to 30 to 50% year-over-year growth up from 20 million units shipped last year.
More broadly, Asian PC demand is tracking to 10 to 12% year-over-year unit growth in the June quarter, with early indications suggesting 10 to 15% in the September quarter.
Overall, demand appears normal, the firm said, with a slow and steady ramp expected into the second half of the year.
Motherboard units accelerated in May to up 17% year-over-year. Notebook data have also remained strong, with Taiwan notebook units up 63% year-over-year in May, accelerating from 37% growth in April. Notebooks are expected to be up 41% in the second half of the year.
LCD pricing has strengthened recently, DB said. Overall LCD pricing is up 5% in May versus the first-quarter average.
Notebook and desktop pricing was relatively stable this quarter, with average ASPs for notebooks down 1%.
The firm believes current expectations of 10 to 11% unit growth will trend up toward the company’s previous estimate of 15% year-over-year growth, the result of continued strength in emerging markets, consumer and the beginning stages of a corporate PC upgrade cycle in the second half of the year.
Inventory correction has been largely cleared and manufacturing trends are firming, says DB. A relatively benign PC pricing environment continues, the company adds.
Evidence of an accelerating PC demand trend is visible among Taiwanese manufacturers; Quanta Computer increased its forecast to 30 to 50% year-over-year growth up from 20 million units shipped last year.
More broadly, Asian PC demand is tracking to 10 to 12% year-over-year unit growth in the June quarter, with early indications suggesting 10 to 15% in the September quarter.
Overall, demand appears normal, the firm said, with a slow and steady ramp expected into the second half of the year.
Motherboard units accelerated in May to up 17% year-over-year. Notebook data have also remained strong, with Taiwan notebook units up 63% year-over-year in May, accelerating from 37% growth in April. Notebooks are expected to be up 41% in the second half of the year.
LCD pricing has strengthened recently, DB said. Overall LCD pricing is up 5% in May versus the first-quarter average.
Notebook and desktop pricing was relatively stable this quarter, with average ASPs for notebooks down 1%.
SINGAPORE - Advanced Interconnect Technologies, a provider of semiconductor assembly and test services, has signed a multi-year assembly service agreement with Elmos Semiconductor, a provider of mixed signal ASICs.
According to the agreement, Elmos will transfer its IC assembly business and equipment in Europe to AIT’s facility in Batam, Indonesia, with an option for AIT to purchase the equipment at a later date. The transfer is expected to be completed in the next few months. No financial details were disclosed.
AIT’s 400,000 sq. ft. operational facility in Batam will house the full line of consigned equipment. The equipment will be used to assemble SOIC 0.300" packages of various lead counts for automotive applications.
According to the agreement, Elmos will transfer its IC assembly business and equipment in Europe to AIT’s facility in Batam, Indonesia, with an option for AIT to purchase the equipment at a later date. The transfer is expected to be completed in the next few months. No financial details were disclosed.
AIT’s 400,000 sq. ft. operational facility in Batam will house the full line of consigned equipment. The equipment will be used to assemble SOIC 0.300" packages of various lead counts for automotive applications.
FREMONT, CA – Dage Precision Industries has installed an XD7600 x-ray inspection system in the American Competitiveness Institute’s demonstration factory.
ACI performs electronics manufacturing research for the Department of Defense and the industry.
Dage joins a host of companies, including Samsung and Manncorp, in supplying the factory with the latest in electronics manufacturing equipment and materials.
ACI performs electronics manufacturing research for the Department of Defense and the industry.
Dage joins a host of companies, including Samsung and Manncorp, in supplying the factory with the latest in electronics manufacturing equipment and materials.
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