News
MINNEAPOLIS -- Nortech Systems today reported record net sales of $27.7 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 17% over 2005. Net income was up 1% to $434,578.
EL SEGUNDO, CA – Global shipments of hard disk drives rose 15.5% in 2006 as suppliers capitalized on growth opportunities while shrugging off challenges including price wars, component shortages and competitive upheavals. The HDD industry shipped 434.2 million hard drives last year, up from 375.8 million in 2005, according to new data from iSuppli. Fourth quarter shipments hit 119.7 million, up 15.8% year-over-year and 8.3% sequentially. 2007 shipments are expected to rise by about 17%, the research firm forecast. For the year, 2.6 million external HDDs were shipped, up 37% from 2005. Seagate Technology’s acquisition of competitor Maxtor spurred a price war in the first half of 2006, the firm said. Shortages of glass media, along with minor shortfalls of other components, were seen near the end of the year. Meanwhile, demand slowed for 1-inch HDDs because makers of MP3 players increasingly are turning toward flash memory for music files. Furthermore, 2006 saw the rise of NAND flash-based drives. The arrival of Microsoft’s Vista PC operating system and the introduction of Intel’s Robson have stimulated interest in the usage of flash memory for PC storage applications, according to iSuppli. The two leading HDD suppliers made gains in fourth quarter. Seagate’s share of 34.6% was up a notch from 34.3% in the third quarter. WDC held second place at 20.5%, up from 19.9%. No. 3 Hitachi GST fell 0.3 points to 17.2%.
PLAINVIEW, NY — A pair of private equity firms have agreed to purchase test equipment maker Aeroflex Inc. in a deal worth about $1 billion. General Atlantic and Francisco Partners said they would purchase the company, subject to standard stockholder approval and closing conditions.
The deal contains a "go shop" provision under which Aeroflex may solicit other offers through April 18. However, Aeroflex would have to pay fees of up to $37 million to call off the deal.
Aeroflex, a global provider of high-technology test, measurement, and microelectronic products, offers a strong platform, track record, and service record, said Dipanjan Deb, co-founder and managing partner at Francisco.
For Francisco Partners, it would be the second major electronics manufacturing acquisition in a year. Last fall, the firm acquired Universal, Vitronics-Soltec and Hover-Davis.
The deal contains a "go shop" provision under which Aeroflex may solicit other offers through April 18. However, Aeroflex would have to pay fees of up to $37 million to call off the deal.
Aeroflex, a global provider of high-technology test, measurement, and microelectronic products, offers a strong platform, track record, and service record, said Dipanjan Deb, co-founder and managing partner at Francisco.
For Francisco Partners, it would be the second major electronics manufacturing acquisition in a year. Last fall, the firm acquired Universal, Vitronics-Soltec and Hover-Davis.
ATLANTA – Technology Forecasters and Spartronics this month will present a free one-hour online Webinar on electronics manufacturing in Vietnam and India.
The Webinar takes place March 21 at 2 pm EDT and is produced by UP Media Group, the parent company of Circuits Assembly. Matt Chanoff, TFI senior economist, will co-present with Jason Craft, director and general manager of Spartronics’ EMS operations in Vietnam.
The Webinar takes place March 21 at 2 pm EDT and is produced by UP Media Group, the parent company of Circuits Assembly. Matt Chanoff, TFI senior economist, will co-present with Jason Craft, director and general manager of Spartronics’ EMS operations in Vietnam.
SAN JOSE – January sales of semiconductors rose 9.2% worldwide to $21.47 billion, the Semiconductor Industry Association reported. January sales dipped 1.2% from December, which the trade group chalked up to seasonality. SIA reiterated its forecast for 2007, noting falling inventory levels.
EL SEGUNDO, CA – Although Dell sold more PCs than any other OEM last year, 2006 will go down as the year of HP, with the company racking up market share gains that permitted it to capture the top ranking in the second half, says iSuppli.
In the fourth quarter of 2006, HP shipped 11.6 million PCs, up 21.1% year-over-year. This was more than three times the rate than the PC industry average of 6.3% growth during the period, according to iSuppli.
In contrast, Dell shipped 9.6 million PCs in the fourth quarter of 2006, down 8.6% year-over-year. Dell was the only Top-5 PC OEM to report a decline in fourth-quarter shipments.
Lenovo held onto third place, with shipments of 4.8 million, up from 4.4 million in 2005. The Chinese PC company’s lead over fourth-placed Acer shrank from 1.3 million units in the third quarter to only 348,000 units in the fourth quarter. Acer came on strong in the fourth quarter, with year-over-year unit growth of 42.7%.
Worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter amounted to 66.7 million units, up 11% sequentially and up 6.3% from 62.7 million during the same period in 2005.
On the semiconductor side, 2006 saw the escalation of the PC microprocessor war between Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. Pricing was a major weapon, as was dual-core microprocessor technology for mainstream PCs. The next stage of this contest will be the battle to control the market for quad-core microprocessors in mainstream applications, says the firm.
In the fourth quarter of 2006, HP shipped 11.6 million PCs, up 21.1% year-over-year. This was more than three times the rate than the PC industry average of 6.3% growth during the period, according to iSuppli.
In contrast, Dell shipped 9.6 million PCs in the fourth quarter of 2006, down 8.6% year-over-year. Dell was the only Top-5 PC OEM to report a decline in fourth-quarter shipments.
Lenovo held onto third place, with shipments of 4.8 million, up from 4.4 million in 2005. The Chinese PC company’s lead over fourth-placed Acer shrank from 1.3 million units in the third quarter to only 348,000 units in the fourth quarter. Acer came on strong in the fourth quarter, with year-over-year unit growth of 42.7%.
Worldwide PC shipments in the fourth quarter amounted to 66.7 million units, up 11% sequentially and up 6.3% from 62.7 million during the same period in 2005.
On the semiconductor side, 2006 saw the escalation of the PC microprocessor war between Advanced Micro Devices and Intel. Pricing was a major weapon, as was dual-core microprocessor technology for mainstream PCs. The next stage of this contest will be the battle to control the market for quad-core microprocessors in mainstream applications, says the firm.
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