KENOSHA, WI — Pro-Mation Inc. is producing a monthly newsletter to deliver industry news and company news and products. The company, which makes PCB handling equipment, selective laser soldering, conveyers and other equipment, will distribute the newsletter via email. 

The first issue, released this month, provides updated product information the company's magazine handler, selective laser solder system and in-line placement work cell. It also includes info on the company's Dynalab integration efforts.

President and CEO Gary Goldberg also shares his thoughts on industry news. 

For more info or to subscribe, contact Gary Goldberg: 262-942-4177.

FRAMINGHAM, MA -- A monthly poll of the nation's top information officers revealed strong signs of growth in projected IT spending.

In the April poll by CIO Magazine, released today, respondents predict spending will grow 7.9% during the next 12 months, up from 6.4% last month.

The poll was conducted from April 7-14. It marks the third consecutive month that CIOs predicted increasing spending.

Growth is forecast for software, and for equipment for telecom and data networking.

"IT budgets are starting to bloom along with the tulips," says Dr. Ed Yardeni, chief investment strategist for Oak Associates. "April's poll results suggest business may be warming up to more technology spending in the spring."

"While overall projections from CIOs are more positive this month, spending projections for computer hardware fell slightly and storage was flat," says Chris Whitmore, director, IT hardware research for Deutsche Bank. "We continue to expect most areas of hardware to experience slower growth in 2005 versus 2004. We believe the combination of rising interest rates, slowing economic growth and an aging replacement cycle will all dampen hardware growth this year." DB forecasts IT spend to grow 4 to 5% this year, versus 6% in 2004.

CIOs of companies osf less than 100 employees projected spending to rise 16.5%, versus 8.4% last month. Companies of 5,000 or more employees increased projections to 6%, versus 5% in March.

PHILADELPHIA - Kimball  Electronics Group, an EMS company with divisions worldwide, plans to purchase Aegis Industrial Software Corp. NPI and MES software modules for all divisions. Kimball's goal is to first integrate all operations at their headquarters in Jasper, IN, and then expand the software interface to their divisions worldwide within one year.

Greg Carmer, CAD/CAM engineering & document control manager at Kimball said, "We're beginning an international rollout. We have plants in Poland, Thailand and Mexico, two plants in Jasper and one in Auburn, Indiana. We're 'going live' with the software in Thailand by the end of June following the successful implementation at Poland in March. We're doing a phased approach to the software, choosing those plants that would most benefit from the capabilities - those with the most urgent business needs."

Kimball selected Aegis CircuitCAM, CheckPoint, Fusion iServer and iView modules with multiple machine interfaces for this project.

TEMPE, AZ - New orders and backlogs for manufacturers grew for the 23d straight month in April although the rate of growth slipped again. New orders were down 3.4 points and inventories fell 6.2 points, yet production rose 0.2 points, said the Institute for Supply Management.

The Electronic Components and Equipment sector failed to grow during the month.

The 23-month streak marks the longest period of growth in 16 years. "However, ISM chairman Norbert Ore said, "the rate of growth slowed to its lowest level since July 2003. The trend is definitely toward a slower pace of growth, and that should relieve some of the pricing pressure that the sector has experienced during 2004 and 2005."

The PMI measure of economic activity fell for the fifth month in a row, slipping 1.9 points sequentially to 53.3%. Employment was down 1 point, to 52.3%.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL - Jabil Circuits Inc. will close a recently acquired factory next month and cut 83 workers, a news report said today.

The Rocklin, CA, manufacturing plant, acquired by Jabil from Varian Electronics in February, employs 90, but seven employees are expected to be reassigned within the company.

Jabil purchased the Rocklin site as part of an $195 million acquisition of several factories from Varian.

In a press release, Jack Oehlke, president and chief executive, credited growth to higher sales to existing customers for specialty printer accessories and components, and gaming technology.

The firm said it will add capacity in China and Mexico. "[We] plan to expand capacity in Mexico by buying the building adjacent to our existing facility in Juarez during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2005," Oehlke said. "We also are investing in our worldwide printed circuit board operations to ensure compliance with new environmental regulations."

Key Tronic guided for fiscal fourth quarter revenue to increase five to 10% sequentially and earnings of $0.08 to $0.12 per share.

Key Tronic will host a conference call today to discuss its financial results at 2:00 PM Pacific (5:00 PM Eastern). A broadcast of the conference call will be available at www.keytronic.com under "Investor Relations" or by calling 800-218-0204 or +1 303-262-2211. A 48-hour replay will be available by calling 800-405-2236 or +1 303-590-3000 (Reservation No. 11027377). A replay will also be available on the Company's Web site.

About Key Tronic

The quarterly profit rose to $74.2 million, from $16 million a year ago.

The analyst consensus was sales of $4 billion.

For the fiscal year, Flextronics recorded a profit of $339.9 million on sales of $15.91 billion.

Flextronics guided for sales of $3.7 billion to $3.9 billion for the July quarter.

For fiscal 2006, the company expects sales of $17 billion to $17.5 billion, which would be a record for EMS/ODM firms. Analysts forecast sales of $19 billion.

FRAMINGHAM, MA - Following a record quarter of worldwide shipments, the mobile phone market slowed slightly in the first quarter due to expected seasonality. According to IDC, worldwide mobile phone shipments totaled 174.3 million units in 1Q05, falling 12.6% from the fourth quarter but increasing 9.2% year over year.

Nokia maintained its no. 1 position with a 30.9% share despite enduring the largest sequential decrease in shipments. Motorola once again captured second place with further penetration into Europe and leadership in the Americas. Samsung, the only company among the leading vendors to post a sequential gain, locked up third place and regained its momentum to catch up with Motorola after experiencing declining shipments in 2004.

Holding in fourth place is LG Electronics, marking the company's third consecutive quarter of shipments greater than ten million. Sony Ericsson beat out Siemens for fifth place by just 100,000 units.

"Most vendors have increased their shipment levels from a year ago, showing that despite a slight downturn from the previous quarter, consumer demand is still strong and vendors are prepared to meet that demand with a broad selection of phones," said Ramon Llamas, research analyst for IDC's Mobility Group. "Vendors have been stretching the limits on what phones can do and what they are supposed to look like. Telephony is still at the core of the mobile phone, but now it can be wrapped with features to satisfy different consumer tastes. What were once considered high-end features are now standard on many low-cost phones as vendors battle to gain market share and consumer attention."

• Nokia - The Finnish company captured 30.9% of the market, resulting in year-on-year growth of 20.4%, but a sequential decline of 18.6%. Driving revenue and average selling price for the company was its line-up of high-end enterprise and multimedia phones. At the same time, Nokia sustained momentum in Europe and Asia, but lost ground in the Americas.
• Motorola - Despite a sequential decline of 9.7%, Motorola closed out the first quarter of 2005 with 16.5% market share and year-on-year growth of 13.4%. The company announced 27 new models for the year including the SLVR and PEBL, variations of the popular RAZR V3. The company also renewed its effort to bring more enterprise devices to the market by investing in the Java+Linux platform for smartphones.
• Samsung - The only company within the top five to post sequential growth (16.1%), Samsung captured 14.1% market share and year-on-year growth of 22.5%. By boosting shipments in the first quarter while other vendors decreased shipments after a busy fourth quarter, the Korean company was able to regain momentum to catch up with Motorola, shrinking the difference from ten million units last quarter to slightly more than four million units this quarter.
• LG Electronics - Securing its spot as the number 4 vendor with 6.4% market share, LG saw year-on-year growth of 26.9% and a sequential decline of 20.1% from 4Q04. The company reported that more than half its shipments went to North America, the largest proportion of any other vendor in the top five.
• Sony Ericsson - After a brief hiatus out of the top five, the 50-50 venture returned to wrest fifth place away from Siemens. The company captured 5.4% market share, declining 25.4% from the previous quarter but growing 6.8% from a year ago. The company released few new products to keep up with its maturing product line, but announced a lineup of high end and specialty phones to come out later in the year.

Source: IDC, April 27, 2005

FRAMINGHAM, MA - The consumer semiconductor market will more than double between 2004 and 2009, expanding from just over $14 billion to almost $30 billion, a new IDC study predicts. The market will experience the fastest year-over-year growth rates through 2007.

Consumer semiconductor growth is fueled by increasing importance in existing and developing end-products in the "digital home" environment. Consumer semiconductors are the enablers of both the underlying technology and the consumer-facing features of the digital home.

"The consumer semiconductor market is one of the fastest growing and most challenging segments in the semiconductor industry," said IdaRose Sylvester, senior research analyst at IDC. "With opportunity comes significant technological, market and competitive challenges, and only the most strategically-focused semiconductors vendors are going to benefit substantially from this growth."

The consumer semiconductor landscape is on the verge of dramatic evolution. Some markets such as digital TV represent great growth and potential for new entrants, but other markets, such as DVD offer moderate expansion and exceptional challenges. Due to these forces, the market in 2009 will be dramatically different than it is today.