Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - CA Magazine Issues

News

NEW YORK -- Is the semiconductor industry about to turn up? One Wall Street analyst thinks so.

Wachovia analyst David Wong has upgraded the semiconductor sector to overweight from market weight, saying a recovery could come in the next quarter.

BANNOCKBURN, IL -- The 90-day moving average of November shipments of bare PWBs fell 7% year-over-year and orders slumped 18.8%, according to the latest survey of the nation's board fabricators.

For the month, rigid shipments dropped 5.8% and bookings fell 17.3%, while flex circuit shipments dropped 22.6% and bookings plunged 36.8%, IPC said.

Through November, rigid shipments are up 2.4%, and bookings are down 3.8%. Flex circuit shipments are up 5.8% and bookings are down 5.5% versus last year.

The monthly book-to-bill ratio slipped to 0.94. The ratios are calculated by dividing the value of orders booked over the past three months by the value of sales billed during the same period. A ratio of more than 1.0 is considered a sign of future expansion.

Rigid PWBs make up an estimated 90% of survey.About 14% of the value of the PWBs covered in the survey are imported by brokers, IPC said.

Overall, shipments are up 2.6% and bookings are down 3.9%.

IPC said in a statement it expects PWB revenues in 2008 will be flat with 2007.

SAN JOSE -- Global semiconductor sales fell almost 10% year-over-year in November to $20.8 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association said today.

DALLAS -- TXP Corp. has received a default notice from a major investor claiming the EMS provider owes more than $10 million.

YA Global Investments notified TXP on Dec. 11 of the company's failure to pay a sum of more than $250,000, and claiming TXP is "unable to pay its debts generally as they come due" and of "failure to pay its debts as they come due." In the letter, YA Global demanded TXP immediately repay all of its obligations, a sum of $10.2 million as of Dec. 17, inclusive of accrued and unpaid interest.

The complaints relate to a securities purchase deal TXP and YA Global signed last spring.

TXP is in negotiations with YA Global to reach an resolution, and is seeking sources of financing in order to redeem the outstanding debt owed to YA Global and to resume operations.

NEENAH, WI -- Plexus Corp. this month will start construction on its new headquarters here, and will also begin moving into a recently acquired building in nearby Greenville.

CHICAGO -- Research In Motion is asking a US court to invalidate a previous agreement with Motorola under which the firms agreed not to recruit each others' employees.

In a suit filed in a Chicago court, RIM, the world's top maker of smartphones, asserts improper and unfair competitive practices on the part of Motorola is preventing the hiring of perhaps thousands of laid-off workers. The terminated Motorola workers had signed nondisclosure agreements which in effect would make them unhirable by competitors.