ST. LOUIS, MO - Laird Technologies has acquired AeroComm for $38 million. AeroComm designs and manufactures wireless communications systems for low- to mid-volume OEM applications.  Key applications include gaming machines, industrial automation, lighting controls, heavy equipment telemetry, athletic event scoreboards, wheel alignment sensor systems, and automatic utility meter readers. Lenexa, KS-based AeroComm reported 2006 profits of $2.9 million.

Laird designs and manufactures antenna solutions, electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding products, telematics, signal integrity products and thermal management solutions.

DELEON SPRINGS, FL -- Sparton Electronics won a $13.8 million, two-year contract from the U.S. Navy to develop sonobuoys for detecting submarines.

The contract runs through February 2009 and could be worth as much as $19.6 million, if all options are exercised

DAYTON, OH -- NCR Corp. will outsource its ATM, payment solutions and self-checkout systems to Solectron Corp.
The companies did not disclose the estimated value of the five-year contract.

The deal covers NCR's ATMs and payment solutions in the Americas and its self-checkout systems globally. NCR will transfer its Americas manufacturing to Solectron's sites in Columbia, SC; Guadalajara, Mexico; and Jaguariuna, Brazil by the end of 2007.

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TAOYUAN CITY, TAIWAN – Lloyd Doyle has opened demo room here to house the company’s IBIS solder bump inspection system.
The demo room is located at Sigmatek, a supplier of electronics assembly equipment and consumables in Asia.

SAN JOSE – Preliminary December bookings at North American-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers rose 33% year-over-year and reversed a four months of decline.

Makers of semi gear posted $1.52 billion in orders in December on a three-month average basis, up 7% sequentially, the trade group SEMI said.

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BANGKOK – Fabrinet, a manufacturer of optical components, has begun work on a 300,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility near Bangkok, its fourth plant worldwide.

The factory is scheduled for completion in late 2007, and will raise Fabrinet’s global manufacturing capacity to over one million square feet.

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FRAMINGHAM, MA -- Fourth quarter PC sales rose 8.7% year-over-year, with Hewlett-Packard retaining its top spot, according to preliminary market share data from IDC.

For the quarter, HP had a share of 18.1%, well ahead of second-place Dell's 14.7%.

Lenovo (7.3%) was third, followed by Acer (7.1%) and Toshiba (3.7%).

HP's unit sales rose 24% year-over-year, its fastest pace since 2000 and three times the market rate. Dell's shipments fell 9%. Apple's unit growth was 28% -- despite a 10% increase in average selling prices -- giving the company a 2.4% worldwide share.

According to Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore, "We believe Dell's unit weakness is the result of efforts to improve mix/margins by exiting the low-end market, particularly $300 consumer. We expect this strategy to pressure revenues in the near term but support Dell's profitability over the next few quarters."

In the U.S., Apple's shipments rose 32% and now accounts for 4.7% of the market, up from 4.1% a year ago.

TOKYO -- The Tokyo Big Sight exhibition center last week was crammed with attendees wanting to see the latest in electronics components, equipment and materials. Really a co-location of six different shows, Nepcon World is geared toward the EMS and OEM customer, and offers myriad suppliers in one place.

Aisles were packed and business was brisk. Unlike some shows, booths tend to be smaller and the focus closer to the customer’s immediate needs. While many manufacturers do roll out their latest technology, others reserve their big splash for the more extravagant exhibitions. The show has grown by almost 20% in exhibit space, with over 1,000 companies participating, but the estimates for attendance of 50,000 may well have been significantly exceeded as evidenced by the difficulty in navigating the aisles. 

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MUNICH - EPCOS offers an online service to help comply with the requirements of the Administration on the Control of Pollution Caused by Electronic Information Products (ACPEIP), or China RoHS. The company offers a downloadable Excel table, which indicates which of the six substances are contained in products.
 
EPCOS’ Website features background information on labeling requirements and a summary of the ACPEIP, as well as links to the Ministry of Information Industry of the People’s Republic of China (in Chinese), the German Electronic Manufacturers Association (ZVEI) and the American Electronics Association (AEA).
 
The China RoHS rules go into effect March 1. Manufacturers must clearly label electronics products if they contain listed substances.
 
Further information can be found at http://www.epcos.com/china_rohs. 

HERNDON, VA – iNEMI will preview highlights of its 2007 Roadmap at the Apex trade show in Los Angeles next month.
 
iNEMI CEO Jim McElroy will discuss the roadmap in the Feb. 22 conference keynote, including a look a new chapter on Organic and Printed Electronics Technology.
 
Also at the show, the Optimizing Lead-Free Processes forum will review some of iNEMI’s Pb-free projects. iNEMI is also cosponsor of the Reliability Summit: Keeping Industry Reliability Test Protocols Current with Rapidly Changing Markets. This free one-day session will discuss current industry initiatives to standardize reliability testing, the challenges of keeping pace with new technologies and markets, and plans for a path forward.