News
For the July quarter, BTU reported net income of $770,000, up 361% sequentially, on sales of $15.8 million. The company's net loss for the year-ago quarter was $892,000.
First-half net sales were up 12% to $28.6 million. Net income was $937,000, compared to a loss of $1.9 million.
"We are pleased with the progress we are making in bringing cost under control, improving our results and globalizing our business," said Paul J. van der Wansem, chairman and chief executive.
"Our visibility into the future remains limited, but we continue to see strength in most of our markets," said van der Wansem. "Based on our current knowledge, we expect third quarter sales to be equal or better than the second quarter, with profits improving in line with revenue growth."
SANTA CLARA, CA -- Intel Corp. today announced plans to build a state-of-the-art $3 billion semiconductor production plant in Arizona.
The world's largest maker of microprocessers plans to construct a 300-mm silicon wafer fab at the company's Chandler, AZ, manufacturing site.
ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics, a leading contract manufacturing provider, reported June quarter sales of $561 million, up 14% from $491 million last year. Second-quarter net income was $18.7 million, up from $17.6 million a year ago.
The results were driven by "significant" new program production, said president and chief executive Cary T. Fu, in a statement. "We expect strong growth and opportunities in the second half of 2005."
Last week, in response to increasing demands for currency reform, the Peoples Bank of
In a press statement, IPC announced its disappointment with
Dan Feinberg, chairman of IPC’s government relations committee, said, “In the short term, these changes will have little or no impact on the balance of trade and the
John Kania, IPC government relations director, said, “
IPC is a member of the China Currency Coalition, an assembly of trade groups who seek currency reform. H.R. 1498, sponsored by
The statements echoed those of other trade groups, which hailed the move as a step forward but put
“
Also last week, Dave McCurdy, president and CEO of the Electronic Industries Alliance (eia.org), and a former U.S. Congressman, said, “We have long encouraged the idea that the yuan should be allowed to float and have advocated the approach of tying the yuan to a broader basket of international currencies, as they have chosen to do. We believe this pragmatic approach will allow the yuan’s value to rise against the dollar in a way that will allow
ATLANTA — PBR Seminars announced today the debut broadcast of a free two-hour Webinar featuring renowned industry analyst Walt Custer.
The event, Business Outlook: Global Electronics Industry, will be held Aug. 9, at 1 pm Eastern/10 am Pacfic.
SHANGHAI -- China yesterday assented to longstanding calls to revalue its currency, a decision that could have major repercussions for manufacturing and other industries elsewhere.
Critics of the former fiscal policy hailed the move.
With the yuan now in play, most feel that its value will rise relative to the dollar, thus raising the value of China's goods and services abroad. The effect: the price advantage companies have in making products in China will dissipate.
“The NAM has almost single-handedly put this issue on the front burner and has been pressuring for greater Chinese currency flexibility for almost two years,” said NAM president John Engler. “We are pleased that China has now moved away from a fixed dollar peg to what could be described as a ‘crawling peg’ based on a basket of currencies.
“China’s new currency system offers the possibility for continued upward movement of the yuan in the coming weeks and months, and that is what we will be looking for,” Engler said.
“While the initial 2.1% revaluation is inadequate, we view it as the beginning of what should be a significant revaluation” Engler said. “China’s new system appears to allow re-valuing the yuan as much as three-tenths of a percent each day — meaning it could move a much as one percent every three days.
“By October, when the next Treasury Department report on currency manipulation is due, we hope to see that China’s currency has moved significantly enough to begin correcting long-standing trade distortions.
“Today’s announcement by the Chinese authorities has the potential for beginning to correct the huge trade imbalances that have been created by distorted currencies – or it fall short if the crawling peg is operated too cautiously,” said Engler. “But for now, we are pleased that the fixed peg is gone and that a new system has been created. We hope everyone will join us in urging China to use it in a manner that truly reflects market pressures.
“China’s move will also help address our larger trade deficit with all Asia. The Chinese yuan has been holding down other Asian currencies, and the NAM has believed that Chinese action would result in upward movement of the other currencies as well,” Engler said. “Malaysia’s announcement that it will also break its peg to the dollar is, we hope, just the first of many similar announcements to come.”
“I commend President Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow for their resolution and strong leadership,” Engler said. “Their steadfastness made this day possible.”
Teddington, UK –The National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has created a method for generating materials data from lead-free solder joints under shear with geometries and dimensions mirroring those used in current assembly technology. Such data is important for future FEA modelling.
Lead-free solder does not behave in the same way as lead-containing solder under accelerated thermocycling testing. In particular, the joint is in shear whereas creep data have traditionally been obtained under tensile conditions. This is complicated by the decreasing volume of solder used in electronics interconnection.
Franklin, MA – Speedline Technologies has launched a new Web log (aka “blog”) where the company’s leaders will comment on pressing issues in semiconductor manufacturing and PCB assembly.
At the site (speedlinetech.com/blog), company experts will share insight, technical know-how and personal observations on issues including: lead-free, productivity, development, inspection, globalization and miniaturization.
Gerald Pham-Van-Diep, director of advanced development, has posted the first entry. Pham-Van-Diep sees the blog not only as an exchange of ideas, but as an open structure channel to share personal observations directly with his customers and the industry.
DUBLIN -- The worldwide telecommunications market will double by 2010, according to a just released report.
Research and Markets says telecom sales will hit $282 billion within five years, driven by Internet networks, particularly in existing markets.
Digital, IP and Ethernet will replace other protocols, Research and Markets said. Meanwhile, 3G base stations will work side-by-side with WiMAX 802.16 base stations in urban areas.
Today's largest existing markets are forecast to grow to $446.9 billion by 2010, up from $197 billion this year.
SAN JOSE -- The 90-day moving average orders of North American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment was $1.07 billion in June, good for a book-to-bill ratio of 0.93.
Bookings were up 5.5% over revised May levels and 33% below June 2004, said SEMI, which tracks the data.
SAN JOSE -- Hewlett-Packard will cut 14,500 jobs over the next six quarters as the computer and peripherals maker reduces its full-time staff by 10%.
The company will take a pretax restructuring charge of about $1.1 billion over the next six quarters, beginning in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005.
Press Releases
- Indium Corporation Technical Expert to Present at SiP Conference China
- Flex Announces Kevin Krumm as Chief Financial Officer
- Green Circuits Enhances Inspection Capabilities with New DAGE Quadra 5 Pro X-ray System
- Western Digital CEO David Goeckeler Elected Chair of Semiconductor Industry Association