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AUSTIN, TX – Twenty-three percent of the 20.1 million LCD TV units shipped in the third quarter were made by contractors such as TPV, Jabil, AmTRAN, Quanta, Proview, Vestel and Wistron, says the latest report by research firm DisplaySearch.

Many LCD TV OEMs – including Grundig, HP, Polaroid, Vizio, ViewSonic and Westinghouse – outsourced 100% of their manufacturing.

Philips outsourced more than 60% of its LCD TVs shipped in the quarter. Some intend to increase their outsourcing share for certain regions and products as the market expands, while other brands intend to bring more volume in-house as they expand into new regions, according to DisplaySearch.

More than two million LCD monitor panels shipped in the third quarter were used for LCD TVs, a significant leap from 900,000 in the prior quarter.

LCD TVs under 26" will increasingly use LCD monitor panels, says the firm.

Some 23.7 million LCD TV modules were shipped from TFT LCD makers, while LCD TV manufacturers shipped 20.1 million units, the report adds. These variances reportedly were a result of supply chain, assembly lead-time, buffer stocks and channel inventory.

TPV led the TV set subcontract manufacturing market with a 19.9% share, followed by Proview, Jabil and AmTRAN.

The main customer for TPV is Philips, and the main customer for AmTRAN is Vizio; the main customer of Proview is Polaroid, and the main customer of Jabil is Philips, says DisplaySearch.

Philips was the top customer of LG.Philips LCD; Samsung LCD TV was the top customer of CMO and CPT. Sony was the top customer of AUO and Samsung (including S-LCD).

In addition, each of the top-five suppliers looked to their top-five customers for at least 50% of their volume, with the exception of CMO, concludes the report.

ARLINGTON, VA – Electronic component orders dipped slightly in November for the second month in a row, according to the Electronic Components Association. The 12-month average, which compares order growth to the previous year, was level.

SAN JOSE –Flextronics sees weaknesses in the industrial, automotive and telecommunications sectors, but consumer electronics remains strong, chief executive Michael McNamara says.

“We are not seeing any slowdown in mobile phones or consumer electronics ... things you think might be affected by a recession,” McNamara said in published remarks.

According to McNamara, the weaknesses are "minor"; he expects the company's business segments to post double-digit growth next year, according to published reports.

MINNEAPOLIS – HEI Inc. has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to voluntarily deregister its common stock.

The EMS company is eligible to deregister because it has fewer than 300 shareholders.

HEI expects deregistration to take effect after 90 days, if the SEC approves the company's application. As a result, HEI's obligation to file certain reports and forms with the SEC, including Forms 10-K, 10-Q and 8-K, will be immediately suspended.

The company believes the administrative and other economies and savings associated with de-registration are in the best interest of its shareholders. In addition, HEI says it would not be able to maintain NASDAQ listing for multiple reasons.

“HEI believes that deregistering is in the best interest of increasing long-term stockholder value. This action should result in accounting, legal and administrative expense reductions and allow HEI management to focus its attention, efforts and resources on HEI's operations and revenue growth," CEO Mark Thomas said.

HEI’s securities will no longer be eligible for quotation on NASDAQ; however, the company's securities may be eligible for quotation on the Pink Sheets by broker-dealers.

HEI designs, develops and manufactures microelectronics, subsystems, systems, connectivity and software solutions for OEMs engaged for the medical equipment and medical device, hearing, communications, and industrial markets.