PITTSBURGH - Panasonic and Ansoft Corp. have released a new device library for Nexxim and Ansoft Designer based on Panasonic's high-density miniaturized SMT components. Engineers can now design large-scale PCBs with accurate electrical models for high-performance parts such as cellular handsets, car navigation systems and WLANs.

The library currently consists of three principal passive SMT components:

-- 159 multilayer ceramic chip capacitors (MLCC)

-- 186 chip resistors

-- 45 chip inductors.

Panasonic hopes to expand the library in the future to include LCR composites, noise suppression components, baluns, SAW devices and power supplies.

The library is available from Panasonic's Website (http://industrial.panasonic.com/i/library.html). Customers can search for components by name, performance data or other specification. Panasonic will maintain model support and upgrades, while Ansoft will address all customer support for Nexxim and Ansoft Designer.

REDMOND, WA --Data I/O Corp., a provider of manual and automated programming systems, announced the first manual and automated device programming support for Samsung’s OneNAND technology. Support is provided through Data I/O’s FlashCore system programming family, including the desktop programmer, offline automated handlers/programming systems and inline programming system.

“Data I/O’s programming systems make it easy for designers to merge multiple files from different types of memory in highly efficient multi-chip package designs that include OneNAND, which is perhaps the leading example of combined NAND and NOR design efficiency ,” said Ivan Greenberg, director of strategic marketing at Samsung. 

The first OneNAND-based MCP solution supported will be Item # KBJ1XKB00A, containing a 256Mb NOR, two 256Mb OneNAND and one 128Mb UtRAM die. 

SAN JOSE – The Semiconductor Industry Association today issued a revised forecast projecting worldwide sales of semiconductors will grow 6% in 2005 to a record $226 billion. The previous forecast, issued in November, projected flat 2005 sales.

"Worldwide sales of semiconductors have been stronger than expected through the first quarter,” said SIA president George Scalise, “driven by better than expected demand in a number of important end markets, including personal computers and wireless handsets."

WASHINGTON -- U.S. households own an average of 25 consumer electronics products, according to the latest study by the Consumer Electronics Association. The typical U.S. household spends more than $1,250 annually on consumer electronics.

Overall, consumer electronics are expected to grow 11% this year, matching 2004's growth, CEA said.

WASHINGTON -- The Electronics Industries Alliance has launched a task group to oppose legislation that would prohibit federal agencies from purchasing items that are not at least 50% produced in the U.S.

The Working Group on Competitive Procurement has been set up to counter  effots by Rep. Don Manzullo (R-IL) to slap so-called "Buy America" amendments in this year's spending authorization bills.

Clinton, NY -- Indium Corp. has promoted Karl Pfluke to the position of regional sales manager for the Southeastern U.S.  Pfluke will be responsible for the sales growth of PCB assembly, semiconductor packaging and power semiconductor packaging materials.   

Pfluke has a degree in Manufacturing Engineering Technology and is certified as both a Powder Metallurgy Technologist with the MPIF and a Process Engineer with the SMTA.  He is an active member of the IPC Solder Alloy Standards Development Group and has presented numerous technical papers. He joined Indium in 2001 as a technical support engineer and was named market development specialist in last year. 

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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