TOKYO -- NEC, Casio Computer and Hitachi will merge their cellphone handset-manufacturing operations by next April, the companies said today.

TORONTO -- The selloff of Nortel continued with today's announcement that the floundering telecom firm would sell its corporate networking business to Avaya for $915 million.

SMYRNA, GA – Suppliers of electronics design tools and PWB fabrication services will make several product and service announcements during PCB West next week.
 
Accurate Circuit Engineering has received ITAR certification. DFM will introduce MakeCAP Power software. Flex Interconnect Technologies will show its flex and rigid-flex circuits, including HDI. Infinite Graphics will demonstrate IGI Phototooling Toolbox, a hierarchical editor for phototools, and Netlist Doctor, which diagnoses PCB data and electrical test netlists for problems.
 
Intercept Technology will show the Xtent Technology Rules Editor, an integrated single source tool for managing design rules and constraints. Multi-Flex Circuits Australia introduces flat pricing, reduced engineering and reduced tooling costs, free evaluation samples and other services.
 
North Bay Technical will feature the Mits FP21T/40 PCB prototyping system, priced under $30,000. Sigrity will show the OptimizePI 2.0 power delivery assessment tool and PowerDC Version 9.0 DC analysis software. Whizz Systems has added Agilent 5DX inspection and comprehensive FPGA design services.
 
PCB West will be held Sept. 14 - 18 in Santa Clara, CA.
 
For more information, visit www.pcbwest.com.
 
PCB West is sponsored by UP Media Group Inc., parent company of Circuits Assembly.

HERNDON, VA – The top priority for manufacturing processes continues to be the development of a new methodology/strategy for R&D in today’s global outsourcing environment.
 
For systems integration, the top research need is to develop 3-D interconnect structures with associated thermal management. The top priority for energy is to increase energy efficiency in electronics products. The top research priority for the environment is to develop sound scientific methods to evaluate environmental impacts of materials.
 
Those are the findings of the International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative, which has published its 2009 Research Priorities identifying the most critical areas on which the electronics industry should focus research and development over the next 10 years. 
 
Development of the research priorities is the final step in the iNEMI roadmapping process. It combines findings from the 2009 iNEMI Roadmap with R&D needs identified through a series of industry gap analysis meetings. The result is a vision of research needs that will help ensure continued competitiveness and innovation for the electronics industry.
 
iNEMI uses the research priorities to identify deployment activities in areas where the consortium can have the greatest impact. The document also serves as a resource for iNEMI members and other corporate research labs; it is distributed to government funding agencies and academic research centers.
 
The 2009 iNEMI Roadmap identified more than 100 research needs, grouped into seven areas: manufacturing processes, systems integration, energy, the environment, materials and reliability, design, and information management. Overall, materials research continues to dominate R&D needs, says iNEMI.
 
For materials, the top priority is to develop the next generation of solder alloys with better area array shock, lower cost, lower temperature and reduced copper dissolution issues. The top priority for design is to create low-cost solutions for carrying >10Gb/s signal rates between components on a PCB.
 
Finally, the top priority for information management is to develop infrastructure to track components through the supply chain to prevent counterfeiting.
 
The 2009 Research Priorities can be downloaded at http://thor.inemi.org/webdownload/RI/2009_Research_Priorities.pdf.

TAMPA, FL – Sypris Electronics has received approximately $5.5 million in follow-on orders to produce electronics assemblies for multiple satellite systems.
 
The firm did not disclose the company that placed the orders.
 
"Sypris continues to expand the scope and capabilities of its space offerings in partnership with prime contractors for commercial and government satellite systems," said John Walsh, president of Sypris Electronics. "Our dedicated NASA-certified space manufacturing operation supports next-generation satellite systems for global communications, connectivity and other endeavors by the US and its allied nations for both commercial and military applications."
 
Sypris Electronics is a subsidiary of Sypris Solutions.

SAN JOSE – MEPTEC has announced the first Semiconductor to Solar: Growth Opportunities for the IC Industry symposium.
 
The event will be held Nov. 19 in San Jose.
 
This conference will focus on the basics of PV-based systems, and specific requirements and nuances the industry faces today. The event will showcase specific applications of ICs into photovoltaic applications that are either essential parts of the PV system or would play a significant role in managing performance of PV systems. 
 
Sessions include photovoltaic industry overview and current trends; enabling technologies; manufacturing challenges and processing for solar photovoltaic, and future trends and opportunities for the IC industry.
 
To register, visit www.meptec.org.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai) today reported August revenues plunged 24.6% year-over-year to NT$108.2 billion ($3.32 billion).

TAIPEI -- Elitegroup Computer Systems reported August consolidated revenues fell 10.4% year-over-year to NT$6.1 billion ($185.9 million).

SAN DIEGO -- Industry veteran Richard (Dick) Schedtler died yesterday from cancer.

ENDICOTT, NY – IBM has awarded Endicott Interconnect Technologies a contract to supply 100% of the PCBs, board level assemblies, and full functional test, including all critical interconnect components for an advanced supercomputing program. 
 
No financial terms were disclosed.

“EI has a long standing relationship with IBM and we’re very pleased to have been chosen as the key supplier for this state-of-the-art solution. EI is committed to supplying high quality, high reliability and cost efficient products and services to IBM,” said Michael J. Hills, senior VP of sales, marketing and product management at EI.
 
EI is a former manufacturing arm of IBM.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The final two quarters of 2009 are forecast to bring a sharp uptick in wafer fab capacity utilization, reaching levels not seen since the third quarter of last year, says IC Insights.
 
While the IC capacity utilization rate stayed around 90% in 2007 and through the first three quarters of 2008, the economy dropped in the fourth quarter, dragging utilization rates down to 68%, says the firm.
 
IC Insights noted IC capacity utilization reached a low of 57% in the first quarter, rebounding 21 points to 78% in the following quarter, as OEMs began replenishing inventory. The firm expects industry capacity utilization to increase another 10 points to 88% in the third quarter.
 
"Though not sinking to the all-time annual low rate of 71.2% in 2001, IC Insights expects the average IC industry capacity rate for the entire global recession year of 2009 to drop to 77.4%," Bill McClean, president of IC Insights, said.
 
"Strengthening IC capacity utilization rates due to the tremendous capital spending cutbacks in 2008 and 2009 will cause IC ASPs to rebound, with annual increases of 5% forecast between 2010 and 2012," he concluded.
 
IC Insights’ report follows a SEMI forecast of 64% year-over-year growth in fab spending in 2010. According to SEMI, the overall utilization rate is expected to lag at 70% to 80% by the end of 2009.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Global LCD TV shipments rose 14.1% sequentially in the second quarter to 30.7 million units, iSuppli Corp. said.