News
RICHARDSON, TX -- TXP-Texas Prototypes Inc., a provider of prototype electronics manufacturing services, will double its facility, expanding to 31,000 sq. ft. of manufacturing and lab space.
The newly built-out facility includes a 2,500 sq. ft. cleanroom.
The company
said 40 to 50 people will be employed at the location.
Michael C. Shores,
president and CEO, said, "The newly acquired facility will accommodate the
company's current expanding business needs while providing continued growth
potential for the company and all of its divisions."
On a conference call last year, CEO Mike Cannon said the company is not for sale.
The company last week said its February quarter net loss narrowed to $3.4 million, from a loss of $68 million last year. Revenue fell to $2.76 billion from $2.89 billion.
FRAMINGHAM, MA - Despite strong growth in the fourth quarter and the rest of 2004, delayed recovery in Japan
and a cautious outlook in the U.S. have led to slightly lower
expectations for worldwide PC shipments in 2005.
Research firm IDC today lowered its
forecast for total worldwide PC
shipments for 2005 to 9.7%, from 10.1% in November. The good news:
Demand is likely to shift into later years and the growth forecast
remains
above 8% through the end of 2009.
Total shipments are expected to reach 195.4 million in 2005 on growth of 9.7% with total shipment value growing by 5.3% to $209 billion, IDC said. Shipments are projected to reach 273 million in 2009 with a value of $245 billion.
"Despite fears of slowing growth, particularly in the U.S. consumer segment, the PC market was fairly robust in the fourth quarter of 2004 with strong demand in the consumer and business segments," said Loren Loverde, director of IDC's worldwide quarterly PC tracker. "While overall growth in 2005 will be slower than 2004, we expect to see continued strength in portables and in emerging markets. Although worldwide growth will slip into single-digits this year, long-term drivers such as mobile adoption, replacement of older systems, and growing penetration will support healthy growth through the end of the decade."
"While IT buyers in the United States have
indicated
firm intentions to buy in 2005, we have kept the U.S. forecast modest
because
of what we see as a host of risk factors," added Roger Kay, vice
president of client computing at IDC. "These factors include a recovery
that appears to
be getting long in the tooth, a lack of jobs growth, rising budget and
trade
deficits, persistently high oil prices, a treasury-draining foreign
war, rising
interest rates, a stock market that continues to move sideways, and
record-low
household savings rates."
Following a second year of nearly 11% growth, the U.S. market is
expected to slow to 7.6% growth in 2005. Consumer growth may fall to low single
digits in the first quarter of 2005 but full-year growth should top 7%.
Business growth will lead the market while the public sector is expected to
trail other segments.
Adoption
of portable PCs continues to fuel growth in Western Europe.
Growth in portable PC shipments should top 20% in 2005 following over 30%
growth in 2004 and nearly 40% in 2003. The consumer segment remains a key
driver with portable shipments growth of more than 40% outpacing the commercial
segment by roughly 5 points. Growth of desktop PC shipments is expected to slow
to low single-digits from nearly 10% in 2004.
In Japan,
the business segment continues to lead the market, although relatively strong
growth of 12% in 2004 is expected to fall below 5% in 2005. Unfortunately, the
consumer and public sectors have not recovered, and growth in these segments is
expected to be roughly flat in 2005.
For the
rest of the Asia-Pacific market, growth is expected to slow from over 16% in
2004, but remain in double-digits despite the Indian Ocean Tsunami and efforts
to control China's
economy. Public sector growth is expected to outpace growth in business
segments by the end of the year, while consumer growth will slip into
single-digits.
AYESHIRE, UK - TT Electronics, a provider of resistors, sensors and EMS services, reported preliminary sales from continuing operations of £597.4 million, up 13% from £527.5 million in 2003.
Profits, before goodwill amortization and
taxes and not including one-time charges, were £30.1 million, up from £20.0
million.
Demand for automotive products grew 10%, while telecom and
computers grew 35%, TT Electronics said.
Sales from electronics increased 16% to £403.6 million. Electronics showed an operating profit of £26 million before goodwill amortization, versus £16.9 million last year.
During 2004, the company acquired Optek Technology, substantially expanding its sensor business, and Dage Ltd., giving it an electronics manufacturing base in China. Dage Ltd. was acquired for cash considerations of £8.0 million. In the year ended April 30, Dage Ltd. had profit before tax of £1.2 million on sales of £19.3 million.
John Newman, executive chairman, said in a statement: "Our future strategy lies in both passive and active components and we continue to develop new technologies such as our advanced inductive sensors and high intensity visible light emitting diodes which are attracting significant interest. Our recent expansion into China is an important strategic development enabling us to continue to meet the requirements of our customers, particularly in the automotive industry."
In 2005, TT Electronics expects stable demand in North America and continued growth in China.
The company is embarking on new programs to develop a range of surface-mount optoelectronic devices and LEDs.
The Japanese electronics giant already
outsources production of cell
phones (to Flextronics), PS2 video game consoles (to Hon Hai) and laptop PCs (Asustek Computer). However,
the company performs most of its own manufacturing -- and even
produces its own screen printers, placement machines and AOI.
But earlier
this month Sony named Howard Stringer as its new CEO, signaling changes
may be coming. As an outsider, Stringer may be more likely to push for
outsourcing than his predecessors at Sony, a company notorious for a
"do-it-ourselves" approach.
ATLANTA — UP Media Group Inc.
today announced that the 14th annual PCB Design Conference West 2005
provided
over 55 industry-leading exhibitors with a targeted audience of
approximately 1,400 attendees.
The audience included corporate executives,
purchasing/procurement executives, design engineers and managers,
process engineers, PCB layout designers and others, who came to the
March 7-11 event, held at the Santa Clara (CA) Convention Center.
PCB Design Conference West is North America's largest annual design-oriented conference and exhibition for printed circuit board engineering, design and manufacture. This year's Silicon Valley-based venue provided attendees with an excellent setting for instruction, networking and face-to-face marketing opportunities.
The show received positive feedback from attendees and exhibitors.
"We are still on a high from PCB West 2005. It was a great two-day exhibition for us," said Randy Eager, CEO and cofounder of DesignAdvance Systems Inc. "We demonstrated our new user-assisted component placement product, and we were thrilled to generate a great deal of attendee interest and to capture many highly qualified leads."
"It was exciting to bring PCB West back to the Santa Clara Convention Center again after two years in San Jose," said UP Media Group President Pete Waddell. "Our attendees find the Santa Clara facility to be a convenient, central Silicon Valley location, and they like the free parking. This year's conference program was first-rate—over 35 technical courses focusing on today's toughest design challenges. And our two-day exhibition was equally successful, resulting in an excellent re-sign rate for PCB West 2006."
In addition to the exhibition and conference, several special events were well attended and received praise from those who participated. These include the PCB Technology Forum and Welcome Luncheon, the keynote address by Bartlett Manufacturing president Doug Bartlett on "The Future of the North American PCB Industry," the Opening Night Reception and Grand Giveaway of exhibitor-sponsored prizes valued at $200 or more, the French Quarter Masquerade Party, the PCB Top Gun competition and the PCB Design Peer Awards competition.
Several exhibitors announced or demonstrated new products and services at PCB West 2005. Those products and services are detailed in a press release posted in the "What's New" section on the www.pcbwest.com home page.
Dates for the 15th annual PCB West 2006 have been announced: March 27-31 at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For more information, visit www.pcbwest.com.
UPMG's next trade show is the 10th annual PCB Design Conference East 2005, which will be held October 10-14 at the Expo Center of New Hampshire in Manchester, NH. For more information, visit www.pcbeast.com.
"The commodity memory business — dominated by DRAM and NAND flash — was the one device sector immune from soft supply conditions in 2004," said Jeremey Donovan, vice president for Gartner's worldwide semiconductor group. "In terms of vertical markets, wireless and digital consumer electronics were star performers once again."
Intel remained the No. 1 vendor based on worldwide semiconductor revenue for the 13th consecutive year. Intel continued a highly visible push into new markets, most notably into digital cellular and wireless LAN ICs.
Ten percent of all traffic fatalities in the U.S. are pedestrians. In Europe, the figure is 20%, and in Japan, 30%. Legislation soon to be enacted in Europe and Japan will require that measures to protect pedestrians be introduced to automobiles starting late in 2005.
According to a new study from research firm ABI Research, the maturing of object detection algorithms in driver safety systems -- technologies such as Lane Departure Warning, ACC and Pre-Crash -- may provide the biggest push to this market's growth.
First generation pedestrian safety systems will be "reactive" types, says senior analyst Robert LaGuerra. These systems typically have sensors mounted in the bumper and "react" when there is an impact.
A book-to-bill of 0.78 means that $78 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
The three-month average of worldwide bookings in February was $1.03 billion. Bookings were up 4% over revised January of $990 million and 22% below February.
The three-month average of worldwide billings in February was $1.32 billion. Billings were 5% above the revised January figure of $1.26 billion and 15% above February 2004.
"Current three-month average bookings are at a level observed in late 2003," said Dan P. Tracy, senior director of SEMI Industry Research & Statistics. "Given the 300-mm investment and ramp underway worldwide, the expectation remains for a much more moderated equipment cycle in 2005 compared to the 2001/2002 time frame."
At a news conference in Washington, D.C., this month, chief executives of U.S. semiconductor makers and a leading economist stressed the importance of continued progress and leadership in semiconductor technology. The industry is observing the 40th anniversary of Moore's Law - an observation made in 1965 by industry pioneer Gordon Moore that the number of components on a computer chip was doubling approximately every 12 months with a commensurate reduction in costs. Following the vision of Moore's Law, the U.S. semiconductor industry has led the worldwide industry, contributing key innovations that have helped drive America's economic growth.
Speaking at the news conference were Steve Appleton, chief executive of Micron Technology and 2005 chairman of the SIA; Craig Barrett, chief executive of Intel; Dale Jorgenson, Harvard University; and George Scalise, president of the SIA. The industry executives noted that four decades of continuous advances in microchip technology have led to creation of entirely new industries, including personal computers, the Internet, and cellular telephones, while enabling major advances in biotechnology, medicine, and environmental protection.Jorgenson discussed the contributions semiconductors have made to economic growth and productivity gains during the past decade.
SIA called for stepped up support for basic research in the physical sciences to assure continued U.S. technology leadership. Experts believe current semiconductor technology could run up against physical, technological and economic limits around 2020.
"U.S. leadership in technology is under assault," said Barrett. "The challenge we face is global in nature and broader in scope than any we have faced in the past. The initial step in responding to this challenge is that America must decide to compete. If we don't compete and win, there will be very serious consequences for our standard of living and national security in the future."
Barrett said that industry scientists believe current CMOS scaling to support Moore's Law can remain in effect for at least another 10 to 15 years. When the smallest features on a chip shrink to less than 10 nanometers - 10 one-billionths of a meter - current chipmaking technology will reach its ultimate limits. To keep Moore's Law alive, the industry will have to leave Newtonian physics behind and transition to the realm of quantum physics - the era of nanotechnology.
"U.S. leadership in the nanoelectronics era is not guaranteed," noted Barrett. "It will take a massive, coordinated U.S. research effort involving academia, industry, and state and federal governments to ensure that America continues to be the world leader in information technology."
Semiconductor technology vital to U.S. economy
Sustaining continuous advances in semiconductor technology is vital to sustaining improved U.S. economic performance, according to one of the nation's leading economists, Professor Dale Jorgenson. "The mantra of the ‘new economy' - faster, better, cheaper - characterizes the speed of technological change and product improvement in semiconductors, the key enabling technology," said Jorgenson. "Development and deployment of information technology is the foundation of the American growth resurgence that has occurred since 1995."
"The economics of information technology begins with the precipitous and continuing fall in semiconductor prices," Jorgenson continued. "The rapid price decline has been transmitted to the prices of a range of products that rely heavily on this technology, like computers and telecommunications equipment." Jorgenson noted that swiftly falling prices for information technology equipment have provided powerful economic incentives for rapid diffusion of information technology, which in turn has led to accelerated economic growth and strong increases in productivity.
"The four IT-producing industries - semiconductors, computers, communications equipment, and software - are responsible for a quarter of the growth resurgence, but only 3% of U.S. gross domestic product," said Jorgenson. "Obviously, the impact of the IT-producing industries is far out of proportion to their relatively small size."
SIA chairman Steve Appleton called for a concerted national effort to increase the resources devoted to research and development in the physical sciences. "Our current efforts are inadequate," said Appleton. "Federal funding for R&D as a percentage of U.S. gross domestic product has been almost cut in half over the past 20 years. We must return to the investment levels of the mid-1980s in order to compete for leadership."
SIA leaders will be calling on legislative and executive branch leaders to support increasing research budgets for the physical sciences in the National Science Foundation, the National Institute for Standards and Technology, and the Department of Defense. Specifically, the SIA is calling for:
- Increases of 7% per year in the research budget of the NSF for 10 years, doubling the research budget over that period;
- An appropriation of $20 million to match the semiconductor industry's support for the Focus Center Research Program, which supports pre-competitive research on microelectronics technology at 30 universities to ensure continued U.S. leadership throughout the remaining years of the CMOS era;
- An increase of $20 million to enhance the nanomanufacturing and nanometrology research capabilities of NIST; and
- An increase in funding for the Math and Science Partnership program of the No Child Left Behind act.
"U.S. leadership in technology is not inevitable," said Appleton. "Leadership in information technology is a cornerstone of our national strategy for economic growth, an improving standard of living, and national security. The actions we take today to ensure continued U.S. leadership will determine the quality of life enjoyed by our children and grandchildren," Appleton said.
The study was administered via telephone
to a random sample of 1,009 U.S. adults between
Feb. 25 and March 1. The margin of sampling error for
aggregate results is +/-3.1%.
"HDTV is here to stay," CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro said of the survey findings. "Nearly all consumers are now aware of HDTV and more consumers than ever intend to make their next TV an HDTV. The consumer acceptance 'obstacle' is no more. Consumers want HDTV now more than ever; it is now up to the content creators and distributors to deliver it."
According to the survey results, awareness of DTV terminology has sky-rocketed in the past 18 months. Nine out of 10 adults are now aware of at least one term used to refer to high-definition television, such as "digital television" or "HDTV." Seventy-six percent of U.S. adults say they are familiar with details about the new TV sets. In addition, the percentage of adults who are not familiar has fallen by half, from 42%in 2003 to 22% today. Finally, 84% of consumers have seen an HDTV somewhere in the last 12 months, whether it was in a retail store or in their own home.
"Not only are consumers becoming more familiar with the digital television technology, they are also accepting of the digital television transition," said CEA director of market research Sean Wargo. "In fact, 53% say they feel positive about the transition, up slightly from 51% in 2003."
CEA also surveyed consumers' reaction to the eventual analog cut-off. When consumers who receive television signals, in part or in whole, via antenna on their primary TV were asked what they would do if they could no longer receive these signals with the antenna they currently use, 52% (from 46% in 2003) said they might buy a digital to analog set-top box converter and 66% (from 57% in 2003) said they might subscribe to a cable or satellite service. Among those homes that receive television signals only via antenna (12% of homes, according to the survey), the figures are 48% and 56%, respectively. Only 21% of antenna-only households are very likely to "do nothing."
The Atlanta workshop will be held on April 27-28; the Dallas workshop takes place May 3-4. Topics include: process residues and their effect on product performance, successfully implementing a lead-free process and conducting an effective failure analysis.
Terry Munson, a Circuits Assembly columnist, will lead the workshop. Terry has over 16 years of experience with how cleanliness is affecting product reliability for electronic hardware.
For more info and to register, visit www.residues.com or call (765) 457-8095.
