SHANDONG, CHINA -- A Foxconn assembly plant here caught fire yesterday, but the blaze was extinguished with no casualties or impact on operations, the firm is saying.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – Blu-ray players are expected to reach 105 million units shipped in 2015, says In-Stat.

 “DVD players and recorder shipments will decline over the next five years for most regions.  By 2015, DVD recorders will be essentially phased out entirely, with only negligible shipments to Japan,” says Norm Bogen, VP digital entertainment. “Blu-ray recorders will replace DVD recorders, and many consumers of recorders will even drop the physical disk media option altogether and instead opt for a player with a large hard drive or a DMS in which to store DLNA-certified and other digital video content.”    

BD players shipped to North America in 2010 represented 38% of the total Blu-ray player and recorder market.

Japan accounts for the majority of Blu-ray recorders, and Europe is the main market for DVD recorders.

At the end of 2010, more than 15% of Netflix subscribers opted for Blu-ray subscriptions.

The Chinese market for Blu-ray has been stalled by the lower prices of the local CBHD standard.

CHARLOTTE, NC -- Flextronics plans to lay off 83 workers in North Carolina in response to changing business demands.

ZHENGZHOU, CHINA -- A female Foxconn employee died after a six-story fall from her dormitory at the EMS company's plant here, local media are reporting.

NINGBO, CHINA -- Kitron Electronics Manufacturing officially opened its factory here, with more than 100 customers and business partners attending the ceremony.

SANTA CLARA, CA – A group of leading companies in the semiconductor and printed circuit board design, fabrication and assembly industries will convene Sept. 28 at the Santa Clara Convention Center to discuss an exciting new solution to age-old electronics data transfer problems.

SKIVE, DENMARK -- Flextronics will shutter its operations here, laying off 286 workers, according to published reports.

JINCHENG, SHANXI, CHINA -- Foxconn Technology will invest up to 100 billion yuan ($157 million) toward a new industrial manufacturing park here, local media are reporting.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – IPC presented a slew of awards this week to members who made significant contributions to a standard or the organization.

For heading the D-13 Flexible Circuits Base Materials Subcommittee that developed IPC-4204A, Flexible Metal-Clad Dielectrics for Use in Fabrication of Flexible Printed Circuitry, Clark Webster, ALL Flex, and Michael Beauchesne, Amphenol Printed Circuits, were presented with Committee Leadership awards.

Honored with Distinguished Committee Service awards for work on IPC-4204A were G. Sidney Cox, DuPont; Mark Finstad, Flexible Circuit Technologies; Thomas Gardeski, Gemini Sciences; Russell Griffith, Flexible Circuits; Nick Koop, Minco Products; Karin LaBerge, Microtek Laboratories; John Leschisin, Minco Products; Duane Mahnke, DBMahnke Consulting; Eric Matuska, ALL Flex; Steve Musante, Raytheon Missile Systems; Steven Nolan, Lockheed Martin Maritime Systems & Sensors; Rolland Savage, High Performance Copper Foil; Robert Sheldon, Pioneer Circuits; Terry Shepler, Electro-Materials; and Brent Sweitzer, Multek Flexible Circuits.

For developing IPC-CH-65B, Guidelines for Cleaning of Printed Boards and Assemblies, Mike Bixenman, Kyzen Corp., received a Committee Leadership award.

For contributions to IPC-CH-65B, Douglas Pauls, Rockwell Collins, and William Kenyon, Global Centre Consulting, earned Distinguished Committee Service awards.

Special Recognition Awards were given to David Adams, Rockwell Collins; Jeff Kennedy, Celestica; Michael Savidakis, Petroferm; Douglas Schueller, AbelConn; Carlyn Smith, Harris Corp.; Steve Stach, Austin American Technology; Bill Vuono, Raytheon Company; Harald Wack, Zestron America, and Lee Wilmot, TTM Technologies, for contributions to IPC-CH-65B.

For leadership of the 2-30 Terms and Definitions Committee that developed IPC-T-50J, Terms and Definitions for Interconnecting and Packaging Electronic Circuits, Michael Green, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, and Vicka White, Honeywell Air Transport Systems, earned Committee Leadership awards.

For contributions to IPC-T-50J, Alan Exley, Raytheon Company; Mahendra Gandhi, Northrup Grumman Aerospace Systems; Alisha Groop, Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company; Thomas Kemp, Rockwell Collins; J. Lee Parker, JLP; Paul Reid, PWB Interconnect Solutions, and Gordon Sullivan, Royal Adhesives & Sealants, were honored with Distinguished Committee Service Awards.

For leadership of the 7-11 Test Methods Subcommittee that updated and reorganized IPC-TM-650, Test Methods Manual, Graham Naisbitt, Gen3 Systems Ltd. and Joseph Russeau, Precision Analytical Laboratory, received Committee Leadership awards.

LYON, FRANCE – Use of MEMS (micro electromechanical structures) components will grow 24% through 2016, a leading research firm said today.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – IP set-top box unit shipments will surpass 21 million in 2011, up 14% year-over-year, says In-Stat.

Motorola remained the market share leader in 2010, with 21% of the market. North American IP STB unit shipments will increase 48% in 2012, and in 2013, Western Europe will account for 46% of worldwide IP STB revenues, the firm says.

In-Stat cited gains in subscribers by major telecommunications providers and replacement orders. Future demand will likely come from a migration to a server/client architecture, where a primary media gateway/server shares content with client boxes distributed throughout the home.

GLENVIEW, IL -- Illinois Tool Works' Power Systems and Electronics business unit reported year-over-year sales growth of 16% for the three months ended Aug. 31.