BANGKOK -- UMC Electronics, Japan's second largest EMS company, will open a plant outside of Bangkok this fall.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – Overall North American electronics executive compensation budgets for 2013 are expected to increase 2.9% on average for 2013, according to a new IPC study.

TAIPEI -- 3CEMS ran counter of most EMS companies in 2012 as the contract electronics assembler's revenues jumped 20% year-over-year.

NEW DELHI, INDIA -- EMS companies looking to break in to the Indian medical electronics market might consider visiting the annual Medical Electronics & Devices show in April.

TORONTO -- SMTC reported fourth-quarter net income of $987,000, including an unrealized loss of $536 thousand from foreign exchange contracts, down from $2.86 million a year ago.

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND -- Enics will lay off 48 workers at its electronics manufacturing factory in Västerås, Sweden, as it moves production to lower-cost locations.

WASHINGTON -- The National Materials and Manufacturing Board has named veteran electronics materials scientist Dr. Jennie Hwang to its committee.

RIDGELAND, MS -- Diversified Technology, a contract assembler of embedded computer printed circuit boards, has ceased operations and will be auctioned.

SCARBOROUGH, ON, CANADA -- Invotronics, a Toronto-area contract electronics assembler, is shutting its doors and will be sold at auction.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- After reaching a worrisome high in the third quarter of 2012, global semiconductor inventories held by chip suppliers fell at a surprisingly fast rate in the fourth quarter, led by dramatic reductions for market leader Intel.

FRAMINGHAM, MA – A predicted surge of smaller, lower-priced devices in the tablet market has led International Data Corp. to increase its 2013 forecast for the worldwide tablet market to 190.9 million, up from its previous forecast of 172.4 million units.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- The dynamic random access memory market overcame seasonal slowness and returned to growth in the final quarter of 2012, helped by the strong performance of SK Hynix after the South Korean supplier expanded to its largest market share ever, according to IHS iSuppli.