GREENVILLE, S.C. – Component manufacturer Kemet Corp. announced its acquisition of Arcotronics Italia S.p.A, agreeing to pay $24 million. 

ATLANTA – UP Media Group Inc., parent company of Circuits Assembly, announced Joseph Fjelstad, founder and president of Verdant Enterprises, will deliver the keynote address at PCB Design Conference East 2007 in Durham, NC, on Oct. 23, at 11 a.m. in the Durham Marriott at the Civic Center.

Fjelstad’s keynote, titled "Robust Environmentally Friendly Electronics Assembly," will reveal a new electronics assembly process said to use no solder – eliminating many of the risks and reliability exposures associated with lead-free solders – and no conventional circuit boards.

The Reverse Interconnection Process embodies a new sequence of core processing technologies, and is achieved through direct copper-copper plate-up onto an inverted cast-in-place component-array platform. The process has demonstrated the conceptual potential for the manufacture of high-density, high-performance, high-reliability and environmentally (i.e., RoHS) compliant solutions for products ranging from consumer to mil-aero applications.

Founder and president of Verdant Electronics, Fjelstad has more than 35 years of experience in electronics interconnection and packaging in a variety of capacities, from chemist to process engineer and from international consultant to CEO.

The keynote is free to attend; however, registration and a badge are required for admission. To register online or find out more about the Oct. 21-26 show, visit www.pcbeast.com.

UPMG's 2008 conferences include PCB East 2008 on May 11-16 at the Holiday Inn Select & Convention Center in Tinley Park, IL, and PCB West 2008 on September 14-19 at the Marriott Santa Clara in Santa Clara, CA.

RICHARDSON, TX – TXP Corp., ODM for the telecommunications industry, announced revenue of $3.3 million in the second quarter, an increase of 70% year-over-year.

Operating loss was approximately $1.1 million, an increase of about 39% year-over-year.

The increase in operating loss primarily reflects the hiring of Siemens' former ONT development team, the company reports.

The company says it increased its customer base from 89 to 117 during the quarter.

KINGS PARK, NY – PCB manufacturers will see global revenues grow to more than $76 billion in 2012, up from more than $50 billion in 2007, reports Visant Strategies.

A newly published report, “Printed Circuit Board: World Outlook,” reviews industry changes and success story case studies.

Global revenues for PCBs are provided for many categories through 2012, such as HDI/Microvia PCBs; single, double and multi-layer PCBs; rigid, flex or rigid-flex PCBs; PCBs by end-product sector, and for PCBs using substrates such as Alumina, FR4, and Beryllium Oxide, among others.

The study is said to detail how regional shifts in PCB production and usage will continue through 2012. According to the report, the Asia-Pacific region will continue to expand in PCB production, as revenues for the region will increase by more than 60% from 2007 to 2012.

PHOENIX, AZ – Electronic component distributor Avnet Inc. reported net income of $124.7 million for the fourth quarter, up 53% year-over-year.

The company said revenue increased 17% to $4.24 billion year-over-year.

Avnet said it expects first-quarter sales of $4 billion to $4.2 billion.

SAN JOSE, CA – EMS company Sanmina-SCI Corp. announced the production of what the company believes is the world's first PCB with embedded ESD protection, covering 100% of the components on the board.

"Despite recent concerns regarding the health of the industry, wafer shipments continue to increase,” said Dr. Volker Braetsch, chairman SEMI SMG and corporate vice president of Siltronic AG. ”Growth is primarily coming from 300 mm shipments, which in the second quarter accounted for roughly 35% of the total silicon area shipped.”

STAMFORD, CT – The top five consumers of semiconductors last year, ranked in order, were Hewlett-Packard, Dell Inc., Nokia Oyj, Motorola Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., according to Gartner Inc.

HP consumed about $14 billion worth of chips, about 5% of the total output of the semiconductor industry, according to Gartner.

Dell and Nokia both took in about $12 billion in chips; Motorola used $11 billion and Samsung used about $10 billion, reported the research firm.

The top 50 consumed about $161 billion in semiconductors, or about 61% of global production. These firms had a higher percentage in communications electronics: 32% versus 26% for the market overall, said Gartner.

PEMBROKE, BERMUDA – Tyco Electronics Ltd. reported a loss of $1.37 billion in the third quarter, mostly as a result of a class action settlement and separation costs.  

WASHINGTON, DC – Comments via the TBT process on Norway's Prohibition on Certain Hazardous Substances in Consumer Products regulation, known as “PoHS,” are due Aug. 10. 

MANASSAS, VA – Zestron America recently completed a series of experimental tests confirming Vigon SC 200 to be fully compatible with organic solderability preservative misprinted board cleaning, the company reports.

The experiments were conducted in ultrasonic and spray-in-air equipment. Variation in spray pressure ranging from 30 to 50 psi and ultrasonic frequency ranging from 10 to 20 watts per liter were considered, says Zestron.

The MPC technology-based cleaning agent was deliberately tested at 122°F to examine the worst-case scenario. Each misprinted board wash process was followed by two minutes of DI-water rinse and drying with hot circulated air for 15 minutes.

Excellent compatibility testing with OSP misprinted board cleaning was achieved at a maximum exposure time ranging from two to four minutes, depending on the solder paste formulation, the company says.

TORONTO – EMS provider SMTC Corp. reported revenue of $66.1 million for the second quarter, an increase of 8% year-over-year.