NEOM, SAUDI ARABIA – Foxconn is in talks with Saudi Arabia to build a $9 billion foundry here to produce microchips, electric vehicle components and other electronics, according to reports.

SHENZHEN – Foxconn halted operations here today, as China locks down major cities during another Covid-19 outbreak, according to reports.

POOLE, UK – In 2021 Europlacer enjoyed growth of 49% in orders, along with a 33% increase in sales billings.

HERZLIYA, ISRAEL – Cybord raised a $4 million seed investment led by IL Ventures.

NEENAH, WI – Plexus Corp. confirmed its fiscal second quarter guidance for revenue of $820 million to $860 million.

BASINGSTOKE, UK – Volex acquired 51% majority stake in electronics design and manufacturing services firm inYantra Technologies for $13 million. The deal includes the $5 million purchase of 13.5 acres of industrial land.

FOUNTAIN INN, SC – Kyocera AVX is set to acquire Rohm Semiconductor’s tantalum and polymer capacitor business assets.

BEAVERTON, OR – Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, AMD, Arm, Google Cloud, Intel, Meta, Microsoft, Qualcomm, Samsung and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing formed a consortium to establish a die-to-die interconnect standard and foster an open chiplet ecosystem.

WASHINGTON – Global semiconductor industry sales were $50.7 billion in January, an increase of 26.8% year-over-year and down 0.2% sequentially, says the Semiconductor Industry Association.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – High material and labor costs are expected to continue for the foreseeable future, while recruiting and retaining skilled talent continues to be a challenge, according to new IPC data.

PATHUMTANI, THAILAND – SVI Austria, a subsidiary of SVI Public Co., signed a share purchase agreement to divest 49% of its shareholding in SVI Hungary to ml&s Personalservice and ESCHA.

DEHLI, INDIA -- An Indian regulatory agency has approved Elin Electronics Ltd. for an initial public offering.