News
BANNOCKBURN, IL - (NOTE: DATA REVISED MARCH 8) - The January 90-day moving average shipments of all types of circuit boards rose 9.2% year-on-year, according to the latest poll of U.S. PCB fabricators. Aided by a boost in demand for rigid circuits, bookings were strong, up 20.2%. This was on the heels of a climb of 30% in December.
However, a large percentage of the "production" includes boards built offshore and distributed by North American vendors. According to IPC, which takes the poll, 35% of the shipments reported were produced offshore.
The domestic book-to-bill ratio was up 0.04 points to 1.08. It was the second month in a row the key indicator was above 1.0.
The ratio is based on data collected by IPC from rigid and flex producers and is calculated by dividing three months worth of orders by sales. A ratio over 1.0 is considered an indicator of rising demand.
Separately, the ratios were 1.0 for rigid PCBs and 1.36 for flexible circuits.
Rigid board shipments, estimated by IPC to make up 75% of all domestic PCBs, were up 12.4% in January vs. a year ago. Bookings were up 9% for the month. Flex sales grew 46.9%, and bookings more than doubled, up 160%.
Sequentially, flex bookings dropped 37% and shipments fell 2%. Rigid shipments were up 5% and bookings climbed 10% sequentially.
Domestic production accounted for 75% of rigid and 31% of flex circuit shipments in January, IPC said.
Flex sales include some value-added services in addition to the bare flex circuits.
In a statement, IPC cautioned that month-to-month comparisons should be made with caution as they may reflect cyclical effects.
Seica's offering is based on the VALID Module Test Unit (MTU), a self-contained board level subsystem hosted and controlled by the Series 6.
EADS provides commercial avionics testing. According to a press release, the company is the leader for French weapon systems testing, supplying the French MoD with multi-purpose, high performance testers.
Boston - Teradyne today dispelled a report that it plans to close its backplane manufacturing operations.
In a statement to Circuits Assembly, Tom
Pursch, vice president of Teradyne Connection Systems and manager of its
printed circuit board business, said: "Teradyne is committed to our
printed circuit board business. Credit Suisse First Boston's reporting of a
'hint of a possibility' that we may exit this business is just plain wrong. Our
strategy to lower our costs, reduce idle capacity and focus on the high-end
domestic market is working."
On Thursday, Forbes reported a leading investment bank suggested the maker of semiconductor and assembly test gear and PCBs might be looking to exit the PCB business.
El Segundo, CA - Worldwide contract manufacturing revenues will reach nearly $300 billion by 2008, says a research firm.
Sales of EMS and ODM services are on track to hit $298.4 billion, a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% through 2008, iSuppli Corp. said yesterday.
Last year, sales of EMS and ODM firms were $190 billion, up 20.1% year-on-year. The surge was a marked improvement over 2003, in which revenues climbed 5.4%.
SAN JOSE -- North
American-based manufacturers of semiconductor equipment posted $1.01 billion in
orders in January and a book-to-bill ratio of
0.80, according to SEMI.
The data reflect a three-month average and are 18% below the revised December level of $1.24 billion and 18% below last year.
A book-to-bill of 0.80 means that $80 worth of orders were received for every $100 of product billed for the month.
The January three-month average of worldwide billings was $1.27 billion, down 4% from December but 23% higher than last year.
"The three-month average bookings figure for new semiconductor equipment is now at the lowest level since November 2003," said Stanley T. Myers, president and CEO of SEMI. "Total bookings declined sharply in January and are now about 37% below the cyclic peak observed in June 2004."
"The modest sequential sales decline is an encouraging sign," said SIA president George Scalise, in a statement. "January is historically one of the weakest months of the year for the microchip industry. We are encouraged by recent signs of strength in the overall U.S. economy, as evidenced by the 3.8% growth in GDP in the fourth quarter.
Dan Hutcheson of VLSI Research has noted that when GDP grows by more than 3% ,semiconductor sales have shown healthy growth except when there are excesses of inventory or production capacity. At the present time, neither production capacity nor inventory excess is a problem.
"The excess inventories that slowed growth in the second half of 2004 have been largely depleted," Scalise said. "According to iSuppli, excess inventories declined from $1.6 billion at the end of the third quarter to $1 billion at year end. In some market segments, inventories are now below target levels, thus we are confident that inventory issues will not be a significant factor in semiconductor sales beyond the first quarter."
Factory utilization continued to decline, as expected, throughout the second half of 2004. Overall utilization was at 86% in the fourth quarter, and leading-edge capacity utilization was at 93%. Industry capital spending increased to approximately $47 billion - roughly 22% of total sales - in 2004.
"In a year of record industry sales, this level of capital spending is in line with capacity needs going forward and should not lead to either excess capacity or severe price pressures," said Scalise.
Tempe, AZ - The manufacturing sector grew in February for the 21st consecutive month, although at a slower rate. New orders and production slowed, while backlogs remained steady, said the Institute for Supply Management (www.ism.ws).
"Price increases and shortages are becoming less of a problem," ISM chairman Norbert Ore said. "Exports and imports remain strong. The recent trend of inventory growth reversed direction during February; this reduces possible concerns about involuntary inventory build. Customers' inventories declined slightly, reinforcing the probability that inventories are not yet a concern."
The PMI measure of economic activity fell 1.1 points sequentially, to 55.3%. New orders fell 0.7 points to 55.8%. Production dropped 1.1 points, reversing January's gains. Employment was down 0.7 points, to 57.4%.
Electronic Components and Equipment, and Industrial and Commercial Equipment and Computers were among the sectors reporting growth.
The filing, which came in U.S. District Court, charges Infineon Technologies and Micron Technology with illegal use of Tessera-patented designs for chip packages that contain memory and other semiconductor devices.
A Tessera spokesman said the company would provide no further details at this time.
Tessera licenses its package designs to other semiconductor makers.
Gross profit rose 53% to $3.6 million, while net income rose to $1 million.
"We are clearly executing our strategic growth plan, exceeding
previous records for revenue, managing expenses and producing record
profitability," said Tom Lacey, IDW's chairman and chief executive.
IDW guided for second quarter revenue
of $22 million to $23 million.
Rae's paper, "Nanotechnology and Low Temperature Electronics Assembly," discussed concerns among board assemblers that some components are not - and will not - be ready for lead-free assembly.
He also revealed that assemblers of "exempt" boards -- military, aerospace, and automotive -- are finding that lead-containing components may no longer be available, which will force conversion of these complex boards.
Nanotechnology, Rae says, enables a number of tools which permit lower temperature assembly through enhanced solders, adhesives and novel attachment methods.
The award was selected by attendees of the Pan Pacific Symposium, which is sponsored by the SMTA.
UTICA, NY -- Dr. Ron Lasky, an expert on soldering, has launched a web log on electronics assembly.
The blog, sponsored by Indium Corp., is at indium.com/drlasky.
The blog offers comments on current events and ideas for process improvements. Readers can view the blog, follow links, and offer comments.
In a statement, Dr. Lasky said, "Blogging is a great method of staying in touch with our customers. It offers a quick way to share and record observations and ideas, and to solicit feedback. It lets our customers learn of, and weigh in on, important issues."
ALAMEDA, CA - Technology Forecasters' June conference on the EMS supply chian will be hosted by Microsoft at the software giant's main campus in Seattle.
The conference, known as Quarterly Forum, takes place June 9-10.
Microsoft recently joined the Quarterly Forum for Electronics Manufacturing Outsourcing and Supply Chain to strengthen relationships with outsourcing and supply chain partners in the electronics industry.
In a statement, a company spokesman said Microsoft is hosting the event "to help our suppliers and supply chain partners learn about and put in practice new business efficiencies to our mutual benefit."
TFI will release its annual benchmarking study on the EMS industry in June.
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