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News

SAN FRANCISCO -- In a move that has taken most observers completely by surprise, Carly Fiorina has resigned as chairman and chief executive of Hewlett-Packard Co.

Fiorina, who managed the massive merger of HP with one of its chief rivals, Compaq Computer, cited differences with the board over executing its strategy.

In a statement, Fiorina suggested she was fired, "While I regret the board and I have differences about how to execute HP's strategy, I respect their decision. HP is a great company and I wish all the people of HP much success in the future."

The HP board has suggested or initiated several changes of late, from restructuring Fiorina's responsibilities to bringing on a new director whose influence is felt industry wide.

ANGLETON, TX -- Benchmark Electronics reported fourth-quarter net income of $20.2 million on sales of $524 million.

The contract manufacturer outdid last year's performance, when it reported $487 million in sales and net income of $13.4 million, including charges.

For the year ended Dec. 31, the company reported sales of $2 billion, up 8.8%. Net income rose 28% to $71 million.

"2004 was another good year for Benchmark," said Cary T. Fu, president and CEO. "We enhanced our customer base, reduced customer concentration, expanded our low-cost manufacturing capacities, realigned our resources, increased our technical capabilities and delivered solid financial performance.

For the quarter, operating margin was 4.6%, and return on invested capital was 14%.

Inventories decreased by $33 million to $257 million; inventory turns were 7.5 times.

As of Dec. 31, Benchmark had $367 million in cash and no outstanding debt. 
Accounts receivable were $251 million. 

Benchmark guided for first quarter 2005 revenue of $510 million and $530 million.
For the year the company anticipates revenue and earnings growth of 10 to 15%.

"Our 2004 new program bookings provide good momentum for a strong 2005," Fu said.

TEMPE, AZ -- Three-Five Systems Inc. has promoted David A. Prunier to vice president, general manager for the company's Redmond, WA, manufacturing operation.

The position is a newly created post.

Prunier, 43, joined TFS in September 2003 as senior director for the company's medical products business. He is a former general manager at Plexus, and director of manufacturing for SCI Systems.

SANTA ANA, CA -- TTM Technologies Inc. today reported fourth-quarter revenues rose 9% to $59.2 million. Net income was $6.8 million, up fro $8 million sequentially and $4.7 million last year.

Cash from operations exceeded $9 million for the quarter. TTM ended the year with cash and short-term investments of $58.5 million and no outstanding debt.

Sequentially, net sales fell 5% ($3 million), the result of lower orders due to capacity constraints at the circuit board maker's Chippewa Falls facility.

For the quarter, quickturn business made up 26% of net sales, down 1 point from last year. Gross margin decreased to 24.6%, compared to 26.1% last year and 28.4% sequentially. Gross margin was affected by a raw materials price increase, pricing pressure, lower operating efficiency and mix changes, the company said.

For the year, net revenues rose 33% to $240.6 million and net income was up nearly 400%, to $28.3 million. The 2004 results included a restructuring charge of $855,000 and a $1.2 million reversal of a tax valuation allowance.

For its first quarter 2005, TTM guided for revenues of $59 million to $62 million.

In a statement, Kent Alder, president and CEO, said, "While we expect business conditions to remain relatively stable, the benefits of our capacity expansion at Chippewa Falls should offset the seasonal slowdown in quickturn typically experienced in the first quarter of the year."

ANAHEIM, CA -- Beset by cash flow problems, DDi Corp. today killed one of its fleas, announcing it would close its circuit board shops in the U.K. DDi does not anticipate any net write-off or material cash restructuring charges.

In a statement, chief executive Bruce McMaster said, "We believe that the discontinuation of our UK-based business is a positive development for our shareholders. It provides a resolution to the liquidity challenges that have beset that business, enables us to cease reporting that business as an ongoing operation, and permits us to concentrate our efforts on the North American market. "

McMaster said DDi will focus on growing a value-added reseller services business recently begun in the U.S.

The U.K. operations carried heavy debt even before their acquisition by DDi in 2000, McMaster said. The company, which is operating on slim cash reserves, "could not justify" the large amounts of cash needed to restructure.

DDi Europe will be placed into administration, a move that permits DDi Corp. to remove $38 million of the UK-based indebtedness from its books.

In recent quarters, DDi Europe has contributed approximately one-third of DDi Corp.'s consolidated net sales, which totaled about $285 million for the 12 months ended last September.

SAN FRANCISCO -- Cisco Systems, a bellwether for communications equipment demand, yesterday reported revenues of $6.06 billion for the January quarter, disappointing Wall Street and signaling a potential slowdown for its suppliers.

In a research note, Deutsche Bank said Cisco's performance and outlook are behind its "cautious view" of the EMS sector. The maker of networking gear is one of the largest customers of the EMS industry.

Cisco's sales were up 1.5% sequentially, but below Street expectations of $6.13 billion. Year-on-year revenue forecasts are decelerating, from 12% in January
to 8 to 10% for the current quarter.

The combination of slowing end demand, contracting component lead times and relatively high inventory levels across the communications infrastructure market continues

Cisco said its internal book-to-bill ratio for communications infrastructure gear is below 1.0, the benchmark for growth. "We continue to believe the recent softness across the supply chain reflects slowing end-demand and customers' inventory reduction efforts," DB wrote.

"Look for Cisco to work inventory levels lower in future quarters in response
to softer end market demand and improved component availability. This will likely translate into soft near-term demand for EMS suppliers," DB wrote.

The EMS makers which stand to be most affected include Celestica (more than 10% of revenue comes from Cisco), Solectron (14%) and Jabil (15%).

Minneapolis, MN -- The SMTA is accepting applications for the Hutchins Educational Grant through April 15. Co-sponsored by Circuits Assembly, the $5,000 grant is awarded annually to a graduate student for thesis research in electronic assembly, electronics packaging or a related field.

To be considered, students must submit an entry form, academic transcripts, a letter of recommendation, a resume and a one-page thesis research abstract.

The grant, presented each year at the SMTA International conference, was established in memory of past SMTA president and industry colleague Dr. Charles Hutchins.

The 2004 recipient was Brian McAdams from Lehigh University (Bethlehem, PA) for his project: "Sub-critical Initiation of Delaminations at the Underfill/Passivation Interface in Flip-chip Assemblies."

SAN FRANCISCO -- Fabrinet, an engineering and electromechanical manufacturing services company, last week opened a 115,000 sq. ft. building in Pathumthani,
Thailand, the first of what is a new campus for the company.

The site, known as Pinehurst, will provide electronics assembly 
support for products built at Fabrinet's Chokchai campus 7 miles away.

The company has broken ground on a second building at the Pinehurst 
campus.  When completed, Fabrinet will have doubled its footprint in Thailand. 

The second building is scheduled for completion in December.


Upon completion of the Pinehurst campus, Fabrinet have nearly 450,000 
sq. ft. of capacity in Thailand.

TEMPE, AZ -- Three-Five Systems Inc. today reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $10.2 million on sales of $40.5 million for the period ended Dec. 31.

The company's sales decreased from $45.9 million in 2003 and $42.4 million last quarter. The net loss widened from $3.2 million in December 2003, although it improved from a loss of $30.8 million in the September quarter.

The company, which provides EMS services, took a $1.8 million charge for excess inventory 
and scrap; a $760,000 charge for relocation to a new facility in Redmond, WA; and 
$237,000 in severance charges for its Tempe corporate office. TFS also took $380,000 
in charges for Sarbanes Oxley compliance.  

TFS received $900,000 as reimbursement for expenses related to the move to Redmond.

For the year, the company posted net sales of $158.9 million, flat with 2003, and a loss 
from continuing operations of $54.3 million, down from a loss of $33.9 million last year. 
Including operations now divested, TFS lost $44.5 million in 2003.

TFS took non-cash goodwill and asset impairment charges of $23.2 million in 2004. In 2003,
it recorded one-time charges of $14.3 million.

In a press statement, president and chief executive Jack Saltich said, "We are
working through a challenging period of reorganization, consolidation and
restructuring. There is real value in our EMS+Display strategy, and we need
to extract that value by focusing on actions that streamline the company and
increase revenue.  

TFS also announced it has won a program to supply color display modules a Tier One 
OEM handset maker. The program is expected to begin late in the second quarter.


Cash from operations was in the quarter was almost $200,000. Capital expenditures 
were $1.2 million. At the end of the quarter TFS's cash balance was $16.2 million, up from 
$14 million sequentially.

Day sales outstanding were 52 days, one day lower, inventory turns rose half-a-turn 
to 6.8, and cash conversion cycle days dropped by four to 54.

By industry, TFS said revenues

Computing: 62% (52% in Q4 2003)
Telecom: 7% (3%)
Medical: 5% 12%)
Industrial/Military: 14% (14%)
Consumer: 8% (14%)
Transportation: 4% (5%).

One customer accounted for more than 10% of revenue. The top
10 customers accounted for 76% of total Q4 revenue.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- Jabil Circuit will acquire the manufacturing arm of Varian Inc. for $195 million, the company said today.

Jabil, a Tier 1 EMS company, will buy Varian Electronics Manufacturing, in a deal expected to close in early March. The Varian EMS unit has annual sales of about $200 million.

At $195 million, Jabil will pay six to seven times Varian's EBITA. Jabil will also inherit about $35 million to $40 million in inventory.

About 85% of Varian's manufacturing business is contract work for medical, communications, industrial and aerospace. Varian will remain a customer, said Tim Main, president and CEO of Jabil, on a conference call Monday.

Medical makes up 40% of Varian's sales, aerospace 15%, instruments 35% and communications 10%.

AUSTIN, TX - Test tool provider National Instruments has acquired Toronto-based EDA company Electronics Workbench. Financial details were not disclosed.

The deal is expected to close in the March quarter.

The companies have worked together for years, and National Instruments said the acquisition would strengthen the integration between functional test and design tools and advance graphical system design technology.

National Instruments said it would retain all of Electronics Workbench's approximately 50 worldwide employees, and the EDA firm may hire additional personnel after budgeting talks concluded.

"Our customers are not satisfied with the integration of design, simulation and test tools in the industry today," said Ray Almgren, National Instruments' vice president of product marketing and academic relations. "A graphical system design platform that integrates these disparate tools will increase productivity and make testing throughout the design process more seamless. Our acquisition of Electronics Workbench is a major step forward in making this vision a reality and satisfying the needs of the design engineering community in industry and academia."

The companies have collaborated for several years to integrate their tools. The Electronics Workbench acquisition adds graphical design and simulation software to National Instruments' platform of graphical development tools.

Almgren said National wasn't acquiring Electronics Workbench in order to become a pure-play EDA company like Mentor Graphics or Cadence. "I think that goes back to the frame of reference the industry has: You're either an EDA company or a test company. We're going to become a system design tool company. We're going to innovate on a vector that these guys simply aren't interested in working on," Almgren said. "Our customers tend to be in functional test. The integration between design and test is not very good. In the short term, we can make a lot of improvements."

Bill Wignall, president of Electronics Workbench, explained, "The reality is that Cadence and Mentor are all about IC design. The place where design and test are already integrated is in the IC world. There's no wish from this acquisition to take on those guys. We want to do for system design what's already been done for IC design."

National Instruments will retain all Electronics Workbench employees and continue to operate the company as a separate entity in Toronto. Development teams will work to further integrate the products and knowledge of the two companies.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of National Instruments, Electronics Workbench plans to continue to develop and offer its complete line of design automation software and directly support educational initiatives with uninterrupted support to participating schools.

The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on National Instruments' earnings for the first quarter of 2005.

ROGERS, CT - Rogers Corp. has filed suit in U.S. district court claiming a larger competitor is infringing on a pair of patents through the manufacture of one of its high frequency laminates.

In the suit, Rogers alleges Isola Laminate Systems is infringing by making, using, selling and importing a material known as IS640, a low-loss circuit board laminate.

Isola responded that it will vigorously defend itself against the claims.