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News

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."

SAN JOSE - January chip sales were $18.3 billion worldwide, 0.5% below December sales but 17.5% higher than January 2004 sales, the SIA reported today. SIA pointed that January is usually a weak month for chip sales following the typically strong holiday season.

"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.

SAN JOSE -- Tessera Technologies has filed a patent infringement suit against a pair of leading chip makers.

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.

ROCKLIN, CA -- International DisplayWorks reported first-quarter revenues increased 85% to $18.1 million, a record, for the period ended Jan. 31.

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.

International DisplayWorks manufactures and designs LCDs, modules and assemblies in China.

MINNEAPOLIS -- Alan Rae of NanoDynamics took home the best paper award at January's Pan Pacific Microelectronics Symposium.

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.

WEST CHICAGO, IL - M-Wave Inc. has acquired the assets of Jayco Ventures Inc. for approximately $1.4 million, the company said today.

M-Wave brokers printed circuit boards and components.

M-Wave, which released its fourth-quarter results last week, upped its 2005 guidance to $34.6 million, nearly double 2004's sales. M-Wave projects revenues of $15.3 million from JVI.

M-Wave will also split into two operating units, with its PCB unit becoming M-Wave Electro-Mechanical Group. Bob Duke, VP of sales and marketing, was named divisional president.

The other unit, M-Wave Digital Broadband Services, will manage JVI's assets, and will do business as JVI Technologies. JVI founder Jason Cohen was named the subdiary's president.

M-Wave expects revenue for its fourth-quarter ended Dec. 31, of $3.89 million, up 17% over the fourth quarter of 2003. Gross margin is expected to be 21%, up from 8%.

The annual revenue of $17.5 million for fiscal 2004 is up 23% increase from 2003. The net loss improved to $2.24 million, from $12.1 million last year. The 2004 results include a one-time charge of approximately $1.9 million.

The loss from operations was $1.2 million, versus $13 million in fiscal 2003. Gross margins improved to 18%, from a loss of 12%.

SAN FRANCISCO - Despite a modest improvement over January, CIO spending expectations are dropping from last year, according to the latest poll of the nation's tech leaders.

For the third straight month, large enterprises reduced spending expectations to 2% growth for the year.

Deutsche Bank, in a research note today, said growth rates for most major technology product areas will slow in 2005. DB forecasts IT spending will grow 4 to 5% this year, down one point from 2004.

Small companies - those with less than 100 employees - see higher IT spending. CIOs at these firms predict 8.7% growth this year. The largest companies (more than 5000 workers) are the most cautious, forecasting 2.2% growth.

Security is the top priority, with storage a close second.

Employees and customers alike could be forgiven for being confused when Ian deSouza became president of Universal Instruments Corp. last August. After all, he not only shared a first name with the person he superseded - Ian McEvoy - but the two have been close friends for years.

What is not confusing, however, is deSouza's approach to running the placement equipment maker. As senior vice president of operations he had been on the executive team for years and played a large role in formulating the company's strategy, first for recovery from the recession and now for a new industry growth phase.

An avid amateur pilot - he says his first solo came when he was "11 or 12" - deSouza spoke with Circuits Assembly's editor-in-chief Mike Buetow on Asia's maturity, the need for tighter development windows and the pros of decentralization. Excerpts.