GREENVILLE, SC -- Kemet Corp. has filed a lawsuit against AVX Corp. to protect trade secrets relating to the development and manufacture of tantalum polymer capacitors. Kemet seeks damages and an injunction.

In the lawsuit, filed in South Carolina court, Kemet alleges that AVX had access to trade secrets after hiring a scientist from Kemet's technology group. The suit alleges that through this scientist, AVX learned certain trade secrets related to tantalum polymer capacitor manufacturing. AVX has since introduced similar products, Kemet said.

Kemet has produced the components since 1999, and they now constitute the fastest growing segment of this market.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- A subsidiary of Nam Tai Electronics has relocated to a new 600,000 sq. ft. factory in Shenzhen, the company said today.

J.I.C. Technology's new factory in the countryside of Baoan County is twice the size of its former plant. The manufacturing space is now 416,000 sq. ft., up from 152,000 sq. ft.

JIC also installed new chip on glass (COG) machines and upped capacity of COG and tape automated bonding with anisotropic conductive film products by 150%.

The former factory in downtown Baoan County was not suitable for high-tech operations and had limited space available for expansion.

BOSTON -- Teradyne Inc. posted a quarterly profit compared with a year-earlier loss.

The company posted a profit of $3.3 million in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $11.5 million a year earlier. Sales rose to $377 million from $357.6 million a year earlier. For the quarter sales were down 18% sequentially and up 5% year-over-year.

The company said in a statement that despite the slight increase in orders in the fourth quarter, customer demand remains tentative.

Teradyne forecasts first-quarter sales of $290 million and $310 million, with a loss between 24 and 31 cents a share. This guidance includes pre-tax restructuring and other charges of $13 million and a $2.5 million tax provision for foreign and state taxes.

Analysts on average had forecast the company to post first-quarter revenue of $343.18 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

On a conference call with analysts president Mike Bradley said the company's Connection Systems division has downsized its manufacturing footprint in U.S. in the wake of a sharp downturn in orders in the third quarter. The moves should reduce the company's breakeven point by $10 million a quarter.

"Our U.S. operations will become epicenter of design capabilities. Future growth in volume manufacturing will occur in low cost regions," Bradley said.

Connection Systems' orders were down over 20% sequentially in the fourth quarter. The division grew 39% for the year.

Connection Systems includes PCB bare-board manufacturing and connectors.

The company, which earlier this month laid off 320 employees at its Connection Systems and Assembly Test divisions and took a $11 million charge, said the semiconductor test market continues to be soft, mostly at the subcontractor level.

TAIPEI -- Hon Hai Precision Industry yesterday forecast  first-quarter sales to rise 30% over last year, thanks to sustained demand from the holiday season.

Quoting chairman Terry Gou, the Taipei Times reported, "Overall, we feel the first quarter is quite good, compared to the same period last year as Christmas demand for consumer gadgets has not subsided as it did in the past," adding that a similar situation has occurred in other electronic segments.

"The first quarter will not be as slow as it was before," he said.

Foxconn International Holdings, the company's handset unit, could gain as much as $432.6 million when it goes public on the Hong Kong exchange later this year, the Taipei Times reported. The company plans to spend 54% of the sale's proceeds to expand production in China, Hungary and South America.

Foxconn earned $134.5 million on sales of $2.1 billion in the nine months ended last September.