OYSTER BAY, NY -- The global market for mobile location technologies is projected to rise from $23 billion in 2005 to surpass $39 billion by 2010, an average annual growth rate of 11.3%, according to a soon-to-be-released report from Business Communications Co.

Vehicle navigation systems and telematics, the largest application segments in 2004 with more than 44% of the market, should be superseded before 2010 by people and animal tracking, BCC said.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL -- SigmaTron International, an electronic manufacturing services company, has completed the sale of its Las Vegas operation to Grand Products Nevada.

Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

In a statement, SigmaTron said the sale permits it to better focus on expanding its capabilities in higher growth manufacturing locations. SigmaTron will continue to sell into the gaming marketplace out of its remaining operations in different geographical locations and to sell different gaming products.

SigmaTron operates manufacturing facilities in Elk Grove Village;  Acuna, Mexico; Fremont, CA; and Suzhou-Wujiang, China.

MUNICH -- Radio frequency microsystems will present one of the next major opportunities for MEMS, growing from $150 million in 2004 to more than $1.1 billion in 2009, according to a new study.

Jérémie Bouchaud of Germany based Wicht Technologie Consulting, the author of the report, said,  "By 2004, the market had already exceeded the $110 million we predicted in our first RF MEMS report 3 years ago."

Currently, the bulk of the RF MEMS market services mobile telephony applications, with BAW duplexers and filters supplied largely by Agilent and Infineon.

 A second mass market will emerge for consumer and IT applications in 2006. "There are great opportunities for spinoff applications in consumer and IT sectors following the initial focus on telecom applications," said Bouchaud. "Here, micro-mechanical resonators will be used not as filters but as timing devices."

Outside of mass markets, military applications offer the best opportunity, in particular for phased array antennas used in radar and communications. In terms of products, Bulk acoustic wave (BAW) devices and micromechanical resonators,  followed by switches, will constitute the largest markets in 2009.

More than 60 companies are currently involved in RF MEMS manufacturing, and around a quarter will ship commercial products or samples in 2005.

SAN FRANCISCO – Look out, America. Taiwan has its eyes set on yet another of your industries.

The island nation’s EMS companies grew 35% year-on-year in 2004, 15 points faster than U.S.-based EMS firms, Deutsche Bank reported this week. The gains came even as growth rates slowed for computers and motherboards – traditionally the meat and potatoes of Taiwan’s EMS market.

MILPITAS, CA – Solectron Corp. today purchased the North Reading, MA, PCB assembly operations of Teradyne. The deal is scheduled to close on June 17; the purchase price was not disclosed, although Solectron said it was not material.

 
Solectron said it would use the plant for low volume, high mix operations.

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DES PLAINES, IL, June 6 — Kester will host its next lead-free seminar on June 21in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Kester Project 2005: Achieving Lead-Free RoHS Assembly was created to offer proven, practical information in reference to lead-free assembly and RoHS compliancy.

The seminar does not concentrate on specific consumer applications; it will present the various complexities of assemblies and what your company needs to do to comply with the WEEE and RoHS Directives.

The series will address lead-free assembly issues and give technical information to transition in a timely fashion while maintaining reliability and production yields. It addresses the new standards that will assist a company towards a smooth transition.

Presentation and discussion will cover the following topics: lead-free and RoHS directive overview; supply changes and procurement issues; board/component requirements; lead-free alloy selection for SMT, wave and rework; lead-free wave and SMT process optimization; impact of dual systems; BGA rework practices; hand soldering process changes; lead-free RoHS reliability; field rework and training; and training and documentation.

For more information, visit kester.com.

WOODSTOCK, GA -- Ron Daniels, former editor and publisher of Circuits Assembly, died Sunday at home. He was 56.

At the time of his death, he was editor of Circuitnet, an online news service, and principal consultant at ITM Consulting.

SALT LAKE CITY - -CirTran Corp., an contract electronics manufacturer, today announced the termination of a pair of finanical arrangements worth up to $25 million with Cornell Capital Partners.

CirTran cancelled a standby equity distribution agreement (SEDA) signed more than a year ago and worth $20 million. The EM company also cancelled a $5 million equity line of credit with Cornell.

Iehab J. Hawatmeh, CirTran's founder and president, said the termination of his company's relationship with Cornell came after CirTran negotiated and completed issuance of a $3.75 convertible debenture at "far more favorable rates" as the latest step in its strategic financial plan.

Hawatmeh said CirTran will withdraw the registration statement currently being reviewed by the SEC regarding shares to be issued to Cornell. In addition, he said that CirTran will receive more than 38 million of its shares currently held in escrow by Cornell in connection with the previously-outstanding notes, and that CirTran will not issue any additional shares of common stock to Cornell with relation to the equity line or SEDA.

WASHINGTON – At least 67 senators have signed on to a bill to hit China with tariffs of 27.5% on all imports at the end of this year unless China revalues its currency within the next six months.

The legislation, sponsored by Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY), poses a harsh and controversial reply to China’s recent economic gains – many of which, critics say, have come at the expense of the U.S. manufacturers.

MINNEAPOLIS –The SMTA has once again organized the Contract Manufacturing Symposium to provide information to form profitable relationships for the contract manufacturer, customer and investor. Organized by Mike Buetow, editor in chief of Circuits Assembly, the symposium will take place Sept. 26, as part of the co-located SMTA Internation/ ATExpo Show in Rosemont, IL.

One session on Mid-Tier EMS Strategy will focus on the continuing demand for high service solutions in North America by looking at three different service providers and the competitive strategies they have used to meet the needs of their niche markets.

The second session, Models and Markets, will examine an exciting emerging sector known as JDM (joint design manufacturer), in which aerospace and defense OEMs collaborate on design with EMS providers, and also a methodical process to OEM supplier selection and emerging market opportunities will be discussed.

Papers will include:

- Creating a High Service EMS Environment Through Business Process Alignment;

- Optimizing Lean Manufacturing in EMS;

- Key Issues in Supporting Lead-free and Complex Prototypes in the EMS Environment;

- Design Collaboration in A&D Leads to Emergence of Joint Design Manufacturers;

- Capability Maturity Model for Outsourcing Improvement: A Case Study;

- Emerging Market Opportunities.

For details, visit smta.org/smtai.

Princeton, NJ – Rockwood Specialties Group will consolidate its 200 mm wafer reclaim operations over the next nine months to two high-volume centers.

The supplier of wafer reclaim services for the European and U.S. semiconductor markets will maintain centers in Gréasque, France, and Prescott, AZ.

Rockwood will close its Rockwood Electronic Materials Wafer Reclaim facility in Riddings, Derbyshire, UK and the Exsil facility in Providence, RI, both of which are predominantly focused on the declining 150 mm reclaim market.            

The closure of the UK Wafer Reclaim business will not affect the Ultra Pure Chemicals business based at the same site. The company also said the 300 mm reclaim business, based in Germany, is not affected by these closures.