NOGALES, MEXICO – Electronics manufacturer PKC Group is closing its factory here and transfering production to an existing facility in Torreon, Mexico.

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND – IPC’s hand soldering competition will occur at National Electronics Week 2014 here in April.

HONG KONG -- Global tablet shipments will reach 289 million units in 2014, up from about 240 million last year, new research predicts.

WASHINGTON — Worldwide sales of semiconductors rose 6.8% year-over-year to $27.24 billion in November, the ninth straight month of higher sales. The revenues are based on a three-month moving average.

HOUSTON — STI Electronics has opened an IPC-approved training center here, the company's second in the US. The new center will conduct hands-on classes in basic soldering, J-STD-001 certification, rework and repair, and other IPC quality assurance programs such as IPC-A-610 and IPC/WHMA-A-620.

SHANGHAI -- It looks like businesses in China will ring in the new year with at least one carryover from 2013: wage inflation. Worker pay is expected to see double-digit growth in 2014, continuing a decade-long streak that has begun to hamper China's rate of growth and lead some companies to relocate projects to other countries.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Following a 2.5% decline in 2012, the global semiconductor market has regained its footing in 2013 with revenue set to expand by nearly 5% because of the strong performance of the memory sector. Global semiconductor sales in 2013 will amount to $317.9 billion, up 4.9% from $302.9 billion in 2012, according to preliminary estimates from research firm IHS.

POUGHKEEPSIE, NY -- Several IBM inventors have filed a patent application for an adapter for plated through-hole mounting of surface mount components. The disclosure relates to printed circuit board assembly techniques, and more particularly, to the attachment of temperature sensitive components designed for surface mounting.

SINGAPORE – A team of scientists from the National University of Singapore has successfully developed a method to chemically exfoliate molybdenum disulfide crystals, a class of chalcogenide compounds, into high quality monolayer flakes, with higher yield and larger flake size than current methods. The exfoliated flakes can be made into a printable solution, which can be applied in printable photonics and electronics.

OXFORD, CT -- MIRTEC Corp. reported sales at its North American division rose more than 17% over 2012. “We are very pleased to announce that sales revenue for our North American Division has grown by over 17% with respect to 2012,” said president Brian D’Amico.

NAKLO, SLOVENIA -- LPFK has bought out the remaining outstanding shares at its subsidiary in Slovenia. The subsidiary, LPKF Laser & Elektronika d.o.o., has made a major contribution to the group’s profitable growth for many years, the company said in a statement.

What news stories were CIRCUITS ASSEMBLY readers most interested in in 2013? Judging by hit counts, the SMTA-IPC colocation of their fall events was the leading story of the year.