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News

SHANGHAI -- Third quarter handset sales in China reached 20.97 million units, a record, according to a media report today.

The shipments were valued at 31.8 billion yuan (RMB8.2:US$1), according to a report from Chinese Sina.com, quoting sources at China-based CCID Consulting.

Handset shipments are forecast to top 88 million units this year, CCID predicted, up 20.5% over last year.

Nokia was the top vendor, with a 19.3% share, followed by Motorola (12%), Samsung Electronics (9.5%), Ningbo Bird (8%), and Lenovo (5.1%).

Foreign OEMs are pushing out domestic brands: Chinese phone makers reported a 41.3% share for the quarter, the lowest mark of the year, the report said.

JACKSON, MI -- Sparton Corp. on Wednesday was awarded a $3.6 million judgment by a jury that determined the EMS provider did not breach its duties in the manufacture of product for a pair of defendants.

The jury awarded Sparton damages in the amount of $3.6 million, $1.9 million of which was for raw materials. An appeal by the defendants, Util-LINK LLC and National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative, remains possible.

SANTA CLARA, CA -- SensArray Corp. has relocated from Fremont, CA, to a larger site in Santa Clara, the company said today.

The new headquarters, located at 5451 Patrick Henry Drive, is 70% larger than the previous site.

SensArray makes front- and back-end process optimization tools and measurement systems for collecting and analyzing data for semiconductor processing and flat panel fabrication.

SEATTLE -- With sales of the Xbox 360 gaming console expected to top 3 million in the first three months after its launch, the EMS firms building the units are primed for a busy quarter.

The XBox 360 is scheduled to reach stores on Nov. 22. Microsoft said yesterday said it expects to sell 2.75 million to 3 million units in the first 90 days after the launch date.

METHUEN, MA -- Shareholders of flexible circuit manufacturer Parlex Corp. today approved the sale of the company to Johnson Electric Holdings. The deal is expected to close this week.

NEEDHAM, MA – PTC, a supplier of product lifecycle management software, reported revenue of $195.1 million for the fourth fiscal quarter ending Sept. 30, 2005, up 15% from $170.1 million for the same period last year.

DORSET, UK -- Speedprint Technology Ltd. and Tecan Stencils will sponsor a number of lead-free clinics at Productronica next week.

Presentations by Tony Welton of Tecan will cover Pb-free considerations for materials, stencils, soldering and printing. The sessions will take place in booth A4.121 the week of Nov. 14, in Munich.

Tecan also will offer a Lead-free Help Desk within Speedprint's booth.

Speedprint is a division of Blakell Europlacer Group.

MELVILLE, NY -- Nu Horizons Electronics, a distributor of active components, will distribute ASICs and other products from Silicon Laboratories in North and South America. The companies announced the agreement today but disclosed few other details.

TORONTO – Celestica Inc. has acquired Displaytronix, a provider of flat-panel display repair services. Terms were not disclosed.

The acquisition gives Celestica a leg up in the rapidly growing FPD market.

ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge Inc. has been awarded a $2.2 million dollar contract from BAE Systems to produce the ethernet switch unit for the A3 Bradley Combat Systems vehicles. The ESU functions as a router and a switch, making local forwarding decisions to devices operated in the vehicle's LAN.

Production is expected to run from June 2006 and through September 2007 and will be performed at LaBarge's Huntsville, AK, facility.

ROCHESTER, NY – EMA Design Automation, a provider of electronic design automation software, was named fastest growing company among Rochester's top 100 privately held firms, according to the Rochester Business Alliance and KPMG LLP.

This is the second straight year EMA won the honor. EMA sales rose from $3 million in 2002 to $20 million in 2003 and $31 million in 2004, giving EMA a growth of 915% over this period.

Employment has also grown from fewer than 15 in 2002 to nearly 100 across the country, with 67 located in the Rochester area.

“We are extremely honored to be part of the Rochester Top 100,” said Manny Marcano, President and CEO of EMA. “It’s a testament to the skill and dedication that our employees put forth in building strong relationships with our customers, coupled with excellent products and outstanding customer service and support."

Marcano launched EMA in 1989, selling EDA tools primarily in upstate New York, and expanded the company in the 1990s to include the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. EMA now sells products across all of North America and has expanded its product line to include the Cadence Allegro and OrCAD PCB design tool product lines, RoHS compliant services and related products.

WEST CHICAGO, IL -- Sales of connectors for electronics products reached $35.4 billion this year, according to Bishop & Associates research firm.

By region, North America was the largest region, at $9.34 billion, or 26.4%, edging out Europe, at $9.12 billion (25.8%).

Japan was third at $6.11 billion (17.3%), followed by China ($4.74 billion, 13.4%), and the rest of Asia ($4 billion, 11.4%) .