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News

TOKYO – Electronics production in Japan will fell in 2005 but will rebound in 2006. That’s according to the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.

JEITA forecast domestic production of $161.4 billion for 2005, down 3.5% from revised 2004 figures. The trade group had previously guided for a 2.8% gain.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – The automotive electronics market is primed for outsourcing, Jabil Circuit CEO Tim Main said in an interview published this week.

Main told Forbes.com that the combination of higher electronics content in vehicles and “an intense need” for auto makers and their suppliers to cut costs bodes well for “great long-term growth.”

WASHINGTON -- Dr. Rick Tsai, president and chief executive of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., and David McCormick, undersecretary Bureau of Industry & Security, U.S. Department of Commerce will speak next month on challenges and opportunities presented by the increasing integration of the U.S., Taiwan and China semiconductor markets.

The Taiwan + China Semiconductor Outlook 2006 will be held Jan. 12, in Santa Clara, CA. The US-Taiwan Business Council is host of the event, the third in a serie. The SIA is a cosponsor.

Visit www.taiwan-china-outlook.com for more information.

SAN JOSE -- Sanmina-SCI today said it would sign a multi-year deal to build PC peripherals for Adaptec Inc. As part of the deal, Sanmina will also take over certain Singapore manufacturing assets and inventory from Adaptec. The deal is expected to close in January, although no financial terms were announced.

HIALEAH, FL -- EMS provider Simclar Inc. will buy Northrop Grumman's Litton Interconnect Technologies assembly business in the U.S. for $28 million. Simclar Inc.'s parent company has agreed to acquire certain assets of the Litton assembly businesses in the U.K. and China through its subsidiary Simclar Interconnect Technologies Ltd.

GENEVA -- The International Electrotechnical Commission has decided not to publish a standard covering the marking and labeling of products designated as lead-free or RoHS compliant.

In a press release posted to an industry listserv, the trade group reportedly said it would instead produce a technical specification with proposals for marking presence or non-presence of substances. In doing so, the press release said, IEC turned down a proposal from IPC, which has pending standards for marking and labeling.

MILPITAS, CA -- Solectron Corp. Thursday night reported fiscal first-quarter net earnings of $20.2 million on sales of $2.46 billion. Last year, the EMS firm showed a profit of $58.2 million, while sales dropped about 9% from $2.69 billion a year ago.

SINGAPORE -- Seagate Technology today said it would buy Maxtor Corp. in an all-stock deal worth $1.9 billion. An antitrust review will hold up the transaction until the latter half of 2006, Seagate CFO Charles Pope said on a conference call announcing the deal.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL-- Jabil Circuit's fiscal first quarter profit climbed 38% on strong demand for consumer electronics and telecom gear. For November quarter, Jabil earned $76.9 million, up from $55.9 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 31% percent to $2.4 billion from $1.83 billion last year.

TIMISOARA, Romania – Solectron has opened a Design and Engineering Services Center in Timisoara, its largest European facility. The added capabilities will enable electrical and mechanical design, advanced process technology, leading edge test development and failure analysis.

Solectron is the largest private employer in the Timisoara region. The site serves major OEMs in computer, telecommunications, digital consumer and industrial markets.

LOUISVILLE -- Sypris Solutions Inc., a provider of EMS services, lowered its forecast for the fourth quarter, blaming customer inventories, and delayed shipments and higher-than-expected labor costs.

Sypris today updated its fourth-quarter guidance to breakeven to a loss of 5 cents per share, down from 12 to 15 cents per share. The company forecast sales of $133 million to $135 million, down from previous guidance of $135 million to $140 million for the quarter.

SALT LAKE CITY -- Citing 2005 as "a year of great progress" CirTran Corp. founder and president Iehab J. Hawatmeh said today that the EMS provider was on track for record sales.

"It was a record sales year for CirTran, with more than $80 million in business won, giving us a strong backlog going into 2006," he said.

For the first time as a public company, CirTran reported back-to-back profitable quarters. The thirds quarter was the company's sixth straight quarter of sales growth. In the third quarter, CirTran reported a profit of $575,042, up 204% over the same period in fiscal 2004.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, CirTran reported a net profit of $839,543, up 278%. The company has pushed into the homeland security and gaming markets, Hawatmeh said.

Total assets reached $10.7 million, up 12% sequentially and 148% year-on-year.

Hawatmeh said CirTran, which is traded over the counter, is aiming to move to the American Stock Exchange in 2006. "That is a stated goal," he said. "We are working to move closer to meeting the minimum listing requirements and have the Amex in our sights."