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SINGAPORE -- Tiny in size but strategically vital, Singapore is eyeing big gains in electronics manufacturing even as its competitors in Southeast Asia grow by the month.

In a report released this week Sinagpore's Electronics Development Board agency set a target of $5 billion in new manufacturing investments for 2006 and is looking to double manufacturing output to $185 billion by 2018.

In 2005, the EBD said, the nation attracted about $5.2 billion worth of new fixed-asset investment commitments for manufacturing, up 2.4% over 2004. Electronics accounted for over half of these new commitments, and are expected to make up half of the 16,700 new manufacturing jobs expected.

Major investments included semiconductor wafer fabs and assembly and testing including a Micron plant expansion, a new $50-million wafer-level packaging plant by Schott Electronics, and a massive $1.2 billion, two-year commitment from STMicroelectronics.

CAMBRIDGE, U.K. -- Sales of RFID tags and related products will hit $2.71 billion this year, and rise to $12.35 billon by 2010, says research firm IDTechEx.

The firm says 600 million tags were sold in 2005, and 1.3 billion tags will be sold this year. Of that, the majority will be used for a range of diverse markets from baggage and passports to contactless payment cards and drugs. About 500 million RFID smart labels will be used for pallet and case level tagging.

In the short term large “closed loop” markets requiring high value RFID will remain very profitable and companies will seek to position themselves as the leader in hardware and integration in different vertical market segments, IDTechEx said.

Many markets are being created, such as real-time location systems using active RFID. Growth in passive RFID will be driven by the tagging of high volume items - notably consumer goods, drugs and postal packages, IDTechEx said.

The firm also predicts more use of different frequencies and increased interest in high frequency (13.56 MHz) tags and systems.

TORONTO -- Celestica today reported fourth-quarter revenue of $2.08 billion, down 11% from last year. The GAAP loss for the December quarter narrowed to $28 million, from $810 million a year ago.

ST. LOUIS -- LaBarge Inc. has been awarded a contract worth more than $18 million by L-3 Communications to produce subassemblies for an airline checked-baggage screening system. The agreement is in addition to a contract L-3 awarded LaBarge last spring, and expands the company's involvement in the program to the production of higher-level electronic assemblies.

ATLANTA, GA —UP Media Group has developed a Year of the Designer Website (yearofthedesigner.com) as part of its yearlong celebration of the PCB design profession. The site gives designers a forum for sharing “war stories,” swapping ideas, discussing issues and staying informed about upcoming Year of Designer events.

UPMG officially designated 2006 to be the Year of the Designer. UPMG president Pete Waddell explained: “For over 20 years, a large part of our focus has been on PCB designers. Many people think that designers are under-appreciated and under-recognized. Whether that is true or not, we recognize that design is the foundation on which all electronics products are built. We also believe that the PCB designers of the world should receive the credit they deserve.”

The Year of the Designer Website focuses on a variety of designer interests, including:
· “Designer Spotlight” to help give designers the recognition they deserve
·           “Design Firm Focus” to detail your neighborhood service bureaus
·           “My In Box” to spotlight designs that designers are working on
·           “Deep Thoughts” to explain what designers like about designing boards and more
·            “Favorite Design Tool” to let designers discuss their favorite tools
·           “The Rant” to tackle issues plaguing designers at the moment
·            “Designer’s Library” to prove life exists outside of design
·           “The Listening Room” to highlight the tunes that fill designers’ headphones.

The site’s content will be updated often and will grow—based in part on the amount of content that PCB designers themselves contribute.

“The site is live, but we need your help to keep the content fresh,” said Waddell. “I know many designers have strong opinions, and we want to hear them. Tell us about your favorite EDA tool or the design you’re working on, or simply ‘rant’ about a pet peeve.”

Send comments and site content to Printed Circuit Design & Manufacture editor Andy Shaughnessy: ashaughnessy@upmediagroup.com).

All PCB designers are invited to attend the Year of the Designer Reception at PCB Design Conference West (pcbwest.com) on March 29 in Santa Clara, CA.

Companies interested in becoming a Year of the Designer sponsor should contact Kamden Robb: krobb@upmediagroup.com.

MYRTLE BEACH, SC -- AVX Corp. reported third quarter net sales of $349.1 million, up 7.1% sequentially and 15.5% over last year. For the period ended Dec. 31, net income was $24.4 million, up 220% versus a year ago.

Income from operations improved sequentially $30.5 million for the quarter, up 376% year-over-year.