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NORWALK, CT – Sales of digital home entertainment gear will reach reaching $411 billion by 2010, an average annual growth rate of almost 20% over the $166 billion posted in 2005, said BCC Research.

Hubs and nodes are the largest device segment, accounting for 56% of total device sales in 2004 and 55% in 2010.

PHILADELPHIA – The American Competitiveness Institute has been awarded a five-year, $150 million contract by the U.S. Navy’s Office of Naval Research.

Under the contract, ACI will continue to operate and manage the Electronics Manufacturing Technology Center, which is already located at ACI, and perform research for electronics manufacturing technology (ManTech) programs for the Navy and other Department of Defense services.

SAN JOSE -- January bookings of semiconductor gear from North America-based manufacturers reached the highest point in 15 months, SEMI said

The three-month average basis of orders for semiconductor equipment was $1.26 billion in January, up 10% from December and 27% year-over-year.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – The January 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards rose 2.7% year-on-year, while bookings rose 10.8%, according to the latest poll of North American PCB fabricators.

The domestic book-to-bill ratio was 1.13. The ratio is based on data collected by IPC from rigid and flex producers and is calculated by dividing three months worth of orders by sales. A ratio over 1.0 is considered an indicator of rising demand.

HERNDON, VA — The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) has scheduled a full-day roadmap workshop on April 5, coinciding with Semicon Europa in Munich, in an effort to include European perspectives in the 2007 Roadmap.

The workshop will give a “sneak peak” of draft chapters of the 2007 iNEMI Roadmap, including two key market segments and seven of the 19 technology and infrastructure areas covered. The session will also allow discussion and input of the draft chapters.

The $200 registration fee includes breakfast, lunch, social hour and a copy of the 2007 iNEMI Roadmap CD when published. Registration deadline is March 28 (earlier if the meeting reaches capacity).

The workshop is co-sponsored by Fraunhofer IZM, IEEE’s CPMT (Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology) Society and IMAPS Europe.

For an agenda and more details, visit
inemi.org/cms/calendar/iNEMI_Roadmap_European_Workshop_Apr_2006.html.

THE WOODLANDS, TX -- Huntsman Corp., one of the world's largest suppliers of chemical products, today reported fourth quarter net loss of $61million, including $20.2 million in restructuring, impairment and plant closing costs, versus a net loss of $1.2 million including charges a year ago.

SAN JOSE -- If you've been watching the Olympics, you saw this coming. Backed by a heavy sponsorship of the Turino games, Lenovo Group Ltd., the former PC arm of IBM, on Thursday said it will roll out its first series of computers under its new name and aimed at North America.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – Fourth quarter sales of servers fell 0.2% year-over-year to $14.5 billion, the first such drop since the first quarter of 2003, IDC said this week.

Worldwide unit shipment growth slowed to 10.6%. Volume systems grew 7.3% year-on-year

Revenue for midrange enterprise servers dropped 11.5% versus last year and high-end servers fell 1.7%.

"The volume server market continues to evolve as richer server configurations driven by both scale-out cluster implementations and scale-up server virtualization initiatives continue to drive increased customer spending," said Matthew Eastwood, program vice president of IDC's Worldwide Server Group. "However, even in the volume segment, the quarterly unit shipment growth of 11.5% was two-thirds the year-over-year unit growth rate observed in 4Q04, illustrating a transition toward more richly configured systems in the market."

IBM retained the top spot, with 38.4% share in factory revenue on a 0.8% rise in sales over a year ago. HP was next with a 26.8% share, with sales up 3.8%, followed by Dell (9.6% share, 7.3% revenue growth), Sun (8.2% share on a sales drop of 10.9%) and Fujitsu/Fujitsu-Siemens (4.3% share, on a 10.9% revenue decline).

HP was tops in shipments, with a 30.2% share, growing shipments 8.8% year over year. Dell, with a 23.3% share, up from 21.3%., was second.

LOUISVILLE -- Sypris Solutions today reported sales rose 9% year-on-year to $132.1 million for its fourth quarter. The net loss was $300,000, up from a loss of $800,000 a year ago.

For the year, Sypris reported revenue rose 23% to a record $522.8 million compared to $425.4 million for the prior year. Net income for the year was $5.3 million, down from compared to $8.3 million.

CAYMAN ISLANDS -- Solectron Corp.'s financial arm has sold $150 million worth of 8% notes.

The transaction was conducted by Solectron Global Finance Ltd., an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Solectron based in the Cayman Islands.

The notes will mature March 15, 2016. Solectron did not immediately disclose what the capital would be used for.

NASHVILLE – Calling it “surprising,” Kyzen Corp. on Wednesday rejected an unsolicited yet public bid for the maker of cleaning products by Zestron Corp.

Earlier today, Zestron had announced its interest in purchasing Kyzen, reportedly offering a premium to shareholders of the Nashville-based cleaning products provider.

In a statement issued Wednesday evening Kyzen chief executive and president Kyle J. Doyel said the firm “has not solicited, nor has it directed management to solicit, offers from any party or have discussions regarding a potential sale.”

GARDEN GROVE, CA -- OK International, a maker of soldering and desoldering tools, has named Tom Seratti vice president of global sales and marketing.

Seratti has spent 25 years in electronics manufacturing. He previously ran Marshall Industries/Avnet Production Supply and Test, and was co-owner of SPI Westek, a manufacturer of ESD control products in Anaheim, CA.