DORSET, UK -- Europlacer reported earnings before taxes rose more than 20% year-over-year across both its major electronics assembly equipment brands.

RIVERSIDE, CA – A University of California, Riverside engineering professor and a team of researchers have made a breakthrough discovery with graphene, a material that could play a major role in keeping laptops and other electronic devices from overheating.

PARIS -- Asteelflash and Varitron Technologies have entered a strategic partnership to share access to their respective contract assembly sites worldwide.

MORRISVILLE, NC – GKG Precision Machine Co. has named Juki Automation Systems as exclusive distributor of its screen printers in the Americas.

The agreement with Guangdong-based GKG and its sales arm GKG Asia Pte Ltd. is for the development, customization and sales of GKG screen printers and accessories in the Americas. No other terms were disclosed, other than the deal is “long-term.”

Juki will stock GKG printers at its facilities in Morrisville, NC, and Fremont, CA, and delivery is effective immediately.

Juki also distributes Intertec’s selective soldering equipment.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC has released revision A to IPC-9850, Surface Mount Placement Characterization, reportedly making it simpler to quantify the performance of placement equipment.

SAN JOSE -- A positive earnings forecast by a provider of optical and laser components suggests Fabrinet is recovering faster than expected from the Thailand floods.

EL SEGUNDO – Chip inventories held by semiconductor suppliers declined in the third quarter, putting a halt to the steady expansion of the previous seven quarters, as the industry cut production to reduce oversupply, says IHS iSuppli.

Semiconductor stockpiles in the third quarter stood at 81 days, down 2.5% sequentially, says the research firm.

The days of inventory level had been on the rise since the third quarter of 2009 when it stood at just 65 days – a time when stockpiles were low because production had been reduced during the dark days of the recession.

Since then, DOI had been creeping up, partly to make up for depleted stocks, and also to cope with growing demand as strength returned to the supply chain. However, amid signs of weakening growth in the semiconductor market, the rise in inventory had generated concerns, according to IHS iSuppli.

Global semiconductor revenue in 2011 is estimated to have risen by a scant 1.9%, compared to a forecast of 7% growth issued early in the year.

“For the third quarter, semiconductor suppliers began an inventory correction to alleviate an escalating oversupply situation on top of already inflated stockpiles,” said Sharon Stiefel, semiconductor analyst at IHS. “With the global economy all but stalled, and in the face of declining orders as well as decreased visibility, many semiconductor manufacturers opted to reduce capacity utilization. And with lead times now declining to normal levels after extended periods of waiting in the past, manufacturers were more confident about trimming bloated inventories this time around without fear of causing too much pain to the supply chain.”

Despite the inventory cutback, DOI in the third quarter remained elevated in absolute terms – the highest of the last 10 quarters, dating all the way back to the fourth quarter of 2008 – suggesting that stockpiles are still quite high. Moreover, the percentage of oversupply during the period rose to 12.1%, exceeding the 11.1% spike in oversupply during the fourth quarter of 2008. As a result, expectations are that inventories will be trimmed further in the fourth quarter of 2012.
Inventory levels rose for handset original equipment manufacturers, distributors and analog companies, all of which posted percentage gains in DOI. Stockpiles, however, fell for fabless semiconductor makers, memory suppliers, foundries, PC original equipment manufacturers, storage gear companies and electronic manufacturing services providers.

For mobile handset manufacturers, inventories increased in the third quarter, as suppliers prepared for their seasonally busy end-of-year period. In comparison, inventory at pure-play foundries declined more strongly than expected – the result of a reduction in utilization rates, says the firm.

The company predicts total DOI to decline another 2.5% in the fourth quarter to 79.3 days.

NEENAH, WI -- Plexus today narrowed its fiscal first-quarter guidance, stating revenue in the range of $525 million to $530 million is anticipated.

PENANG, MALAYSIA -- Plexus Corp. will acquire Kontron's design and assembly operations here, and certain existing accounts, in a deal worth $30 million to $35 million.

ROLLING MEADOWS, IL – Panasonic has promoted M. Faisal Pandit to president of its electronics assembly equipment arm, Panasonic Factory Solutions Co. of America.

SANTA CLARA, CA – Tablet PCs are taking a bigger bite out of the mobile PC market, with shipments now making up 25.5% of all mobile PCs in 2011, says NPD DisplaySearch.

Tablets grew 256% year-over-year to 72.7 million units, as strong demand in the third quarter appeared to be a prelude to equally vigorous buying patterns in the fourth, says the research firm.

Introductions of significantly competitive new devices in the fourth quarter, strong demand for incumbents, and additional distribution channels have been catalysts for accelerated tablet PC shipment growth.

NPD DisplaySearch has slightly lowered its notebook PC shipment forecast in 2011 to 187.5 million units, up 12% year-over-year.

Mini-note PC shipments are expected to reach 25.2 million units, up 20% compared to the same period in 2010. Overall mobile PC shipments in 2011 are projected to reach 285.4 million units, up 31% year-over-year.

By 2017, notebook PC shipments are forecast to reach 432 million units, and tablet PC shipments are projected to reach 383.3 million units.

Ultrabooks are an emerging form factor that is expected to contribute to demand in later years of the forecast. Demand for ultrabooks will be driven by consumer interest in sleek design and convenience like instant-on and long battery life, says the firm. For the next two years, the premium price points of Ultrabooks will temper demand, and there may be some supply limitations in production of displays thin enough for Ultrabooks.

Tablet PC shipments will be driven by increasingly powerful multi-core processors, mature operating systems, growing application libraries, and higher resolution panels. NPD DisplaySearch forecasts that tablet PCs with 250 to 300 pixel per inch panels will make up nearly 25% of shipments in 2012.

Mobile PC shipments into emerging regions are growing, with 2011 shipments projected to be 138 million units, up 48% year-over-year, and increasing to 452.8 million by 2017. Mobile PC shipments into mature regions are estimated to reach 147.5 million units in 2011 and grow to 371.6 million units by 2017.

Mobile PC shipments will be up in late 2012 and 2013 with the introduction of Microsoft’s Windows 8 operating system and new mobile processors from Intel.

EVERETT, WA -- Fluke has acquired Martel Electronics in a marriage of electronic test and measurement technology OEMs. Terms were not disclosed.