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News

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Rapid price reductions are boosting sales of large-sized LCD TVs, says iSuppli, which increased its forecast for shipments in 2007.

TAIPEI – Asustek Computer Inc. forecast an 80% rise in shipments of its branded laptops this year, the company said in March. In January the company had forecast a 58% increase in laptop shipments.

Last year, Asustek, which is also the world’s largest motherboard maker, sold 2.7 million units. Asustek also makes computers for Apple, Dell, and Sony Corp.

“Orders right now are pretty good, so we are confident of hitting this target,” Asustek Asia Pacific sales president Benson Lin said at a March press conference.

DURHAM, NH – Sales of wave soldering equipment hit $235 million worldwide last year, according to a new study by ITM Marketing (itmconsulting.org). (Disclosure: ITM founder Phil Zarrow is a regular Circuits Assembly columnist.)

The 75-page study, Worldwide Wave Soldering Market Study, is a comprehensive analysis of the equipment market from the supplier and end-user perspectives. It covers price to performance benchmarks, supplier perception ratings and supplier and user interviews.

In a press release, ITM Marketing managing director Bob Klenke said, “This study helps to identify the principle characteristics of wave solder machines and how the respective suppliers differ in terms of key specifications, features and capabilities.”

SANTA BARBARA, CA – Design Solutions Inc. has acquired Paradigm Manufacturing Partners, an EMS provider based in Garden Grove, CA. Paradigm, which has one SMT line, performs NPI through medium-volume surface-mount board assemblies, box build and rework projects. Scott Penin, president and CEO of Paradigm, has been appointed vice president of global manufacturing of DSI.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Shipments of portable media player and MP3s will grow to 268.6 million units in 2011, a CAGR of 5.5% from this year, says research firm iSuppli Corp.

“The future of PMP/MP3 players is bright due to continued hardware cost reductions, the rapid growth of online video and audio content and new offerings that will make it easier for users to access and download such online media,” said senior analyst Chris Crotty.

iSuppli believes PMPs will retain their technological edge over media-capable handsets, including media-capable cellphones like Apple’s new iPhone.

SINGAPORE -- Asia-Pacific consumers will increasingly opt for higher-end set-top boxes that support personal video recorder and high-definition features, according to a new study from ABI Research. This trend will be driven to a large degree by China, which will see the region's largest increase in subscriber numbers.

The firm forecasts China to take the lead in shipments, with approximately 75 million digital cable STBs and 9 million telco TV STBs, respectively, by 2012.

TRNAVA, SLOVAKIA — Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to invest $155 million in a new LCD assembly plant here, with total investment possibly reaching $600 million, according to published reports.

The new plant is expected to employ 5,700 workers by 2010, and construction could begin during the next few months, EE Times said today.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Booth space for the upcoming SMTAI show in Orlando has sold out, the sponsoring trade group said today.

SMTA, which is producing the new show, said the last of the exhibit space was sold this week. More than 125 companies have signed on for the electronics assembly show.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Nortech Systems today reported record net sales of $27.7 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 17% over 2005. Net income was up 1% to $434,578.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Global shipments of hard disk drives rose 15.5% in 2006 as suppliers capitalized on growth opportunities while shrugging off challenges including price wars, component shortages and competitive upheavals. The HDD industry shipped 434.2 million hard drives last year, up from 375.8 million in 2005, according to new data from iSuppli. Fourth quarter shipments hit 119.7 million, up 15.8% year-over-year and 8.3% sequentially. 2007 shipments are expected to rise by about 17%, the research firm forecast. For the year, 2.6 million external HDDs were shipped, up 37% from 2005. Seagate Technology’s acquisition of competitor Maxtor spurred a price war in the first half of 2006, the firm said. Shortages of glass media, along with minor shortfalls of other components, were seen near the end of the year. Meanwhile, demand slowed for 1-inch HDDs because makers of MP3 players increasingly are turning toward flash memory for music files. Furthermore, 2006 saw the rise of NAND flash-based drives. The arrival of Microsoft’s Vista PC operating system and the introduction of Intel’s Robson have stimulated interest in the usage of flash memory for PC storage applications, according to iSuppli. The two leading HDD suppliers made gains in fourth quarter. Seagate’s share of 34.6% was up a notch from 34.3% in the third quarter. WDC held second place at 20.5%, up from 19.9%. No. 3 Hitachi GST fell 0.3 points to 17.2%.

PLAINVIEW, NY — A pair of private equity firms have agreed to purchase test equipment maker Aeroflex Inc. in a deal worth about $1 billion. General Atlantic and Francisco Partners said they would purchase the company, subject to standard stockholder approval and closing conditions.

The deal contains a "go shop" provision under which Aeroflex may solicit other offers through April 18. However, Aeroflex would have to pay fees of up to $37 million to call off the deal.

Aeroflex, a global provider of high-technology test, measurement, and microelectronic products, offers a strong platform, track record, and service record, said Dipanjan Deb, co-founder and managing partner at Francisco.
For Francisco Partners, it would be the second major electronics manufacturing acquisition in a year. Last fall, the firm acquired Universal, Vitronics-Soltec and Hover-Davis.

ATLANTA – Technology Forecasters and Spartronics this month will present a free one-hour online Webinar on electronics manufacturing in Vietnam and India.

The Webinar takes place March 21 at 2 pm EDT and is produced by UP Media Group, the parent company of Circuits Assembly. Matt Chanoff, TFI senior economist, will co-present with Jason Craft, director and general manager of Spartronics’ EMS operations in Vietnam.