TAIPEI – Foxconn has paid about $45 million for Cisco’s set-top box manufacturing facilities in Mexico, a deal previously announced in July:
http://circuitsassembly.com/cms/news/11432-foxconn-buys-ciscos-juarez-facility.

Foxconn acquired the sites through PCE Paragon Solutions, a Hon Hai subsidiary, say published reports.

Cisco had acquired the plants as part of its purchase of Scientific-Atlanta in 2006. The production facility in Juarez has a total staff of 5,000.

The companies had announced the deal in mid-summer but had not previously disclosed the sale price.

SANTA CLARA, CA – Total TV shipments are forecast to remain flat in 2011, holding at 248 million units on lower-than-expected LCD sales, according to DisplaySearch.

The research group lowered its forecast based on lower business targets from TV manufacturers and lower-than-expected demand for key TV components during the peak procurement period leading into the holiday season.

“Demand in regions like North America and Europe has fallen short of expectations, as persistent economic problems have made consumers cautious in their spending and highly value-seeking,” said Paul Gagnon, director of North America TV research for DisplaySearch. “Emerging markets continue to show good growth, but it is not strong enough to counteract the weaker demand in developed markets, and as a result, we have lowered our unit forecasts for LCD and plasma TV.”

Although total TV unit demand for 2011 looks to be flat, shipments of flat panel TVs, including CRT and rear projection technologies, will increase about 6% year-over-year, and then improve to 9% in 2012 as the premium for advanced features continues to fall and manufacturers bring low-cost solutions to emerging markets in an effort spur faster replacement of CRT TVs.

LCD shipments will rise from 192 million in 2010 to 206 million this year, less than the previous forecast of 211 million and a key reason the overall TV market forecast was reduced. LCD TVs account for more than 80% share of all global TV shipments. “LCD TV supply chain participants – panel makers, OEMs, and TV brands – have all lowered their outlook for 2011, despite a recent drop in LCD panel prices,” said Gagnon. “Long-term, we continue to forecast annual growth in demand for LCD TVs, although generally we expect less than 10% growth each year.”

A growing share of new premium features, like LED backlights and 3D, are helping keep the LCD TV category average prices very stable in 2011, falling just 7% year-over-year on a volume-weighted basis. However, with the slower unit growth, total LCD TV revenues are expected to be flat this year. After increasing slightly in 2012, revenues should begin a gradual decline beginning in 2013. The forecast share of LED backlights in LCD TV shipments has been reduced slightly to 46% in 2011, but is still expected to become the dominant backlight technology for LCD in 2012 and reach nearly 100% of shipments by 2015.

Plasma TV unit growth started slowing in the second quarter this year, down 6% year-over-year, and is now expected to see a double-digit unit shipment decline each quarter through the middle of 2012. Because LCD TV prices are falling more quickly than plasma TV prices, the gap in pricing is narrowing and share is shifting away from plasma and toward LCD at several sizes. For example, in the second quarter of 2010, a 42" 1080p plasma TV was 32% cheaper than a competitive 42" 1080p 120 Hz LED LCD TV, but that gap fell to just 9% by the same quarter in 2011. Total plasma TV unit shipments are expected to fall 9% in 2011 to 17 million units and around 5% to 6% each year thereafter.

OLED TV is set to debut around late 2012 as a contender in the 40"+ category, but will only grow to about 2.5% of the 40"+ segment by 2015 due to high prices and limited availability. Current projections are for OLED to debut at about two to three times the price of a high-end LED-backlit LCD TV.

Emerging regions (China, Asia Pacific, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa) will have the strongest flat panel TV growth over the next four years, averaging 11% growth each year, while developed regions decline an average of 1% each year. The Asia Pacific region is positioned for strongest growth, as the late-adopting India market begins to boom, says DisplaySearch.

The worldwide forecast for 3D TVs was slightly increased through unexpected growth in emerging markets and Europe, although North America is growing slower than expected. 3D TVs are expected to account for 11% of total TV shipments in North America, but 14% of Western Europe and 12% of China TV shipments. Eventually though, North America will lead 3D adoption due to stronger preference for 40"+ sizes. 3D TV is expected to account for just over 22 million in 2011, rising to more than 100 million shipped by 2015.

TAIPEI -- Hon Hai (Foxconn Electronics) reported nonconsolidated revenues fell 12.5% year-over-year in September to NT$221.8 billion ($7.45 billion).

KEMPELE, FINLAND – Electronics contract manufacturer PKC Group Oyj has named Matti Hyytiäinen to succeed Harri Suutari as president and CEO.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- Semiconductor suppliers' stockpiles rose in the second quarter to their highest point since early 2008, research firm IHS iSuppli said.

LUXEMBOURG -- Elcoteq's long spiral into bankruptcy is complete. The electronics manufacturing services company filed yesterday after last-ditch efforts to convince its bankers for more time fell through.

PHOENIX – Ditron Manufacturing, a local electronics manufacturing services company, has closed its doors.

CUPERTINO, CA -- Steve Jobs, the cofounder and face of Apple, died today. He was  56.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ – HDMI-enabled mobile PC shipments will surpass 300 million units in 2014, according to In-Stat.

“Its small size is a better fit for size-conscious mobile PC OEMs,” says Brian O’Rourke, research director. “In addition, HDMI’s popularity across the CE segment makes HDMI a popular choice, especially for consumer mobile PCs. Dell, Sony, HP, Acer, and Toshiba all feature HDMI in their consumer notebook lines. Netbooks are adopting HDMI as well, particularly higher-end devices that are marketed as media devices, so that they can connect to an HDTV.”

Embedded DisplayPort will have a 35% attach rate in mobile PCs in 2013, says the firm. Plus, 117 million LCD PC monitors will ship with DVI this year. HDMI will have an 82% rate in A/V receivers in 2012, and more than 19 million HDMI-enabled digital camcorders will ship in 2014.

BRUSSELS -- Electronics manufacturing services in Europe is forecast to grow 6.4% this year, with the largest jump coming in the eastern nations.

TEMPE, AZ – Economic activity in the manufacturing sector expanded in September for the 26th consecutive month, but the supply chain is anxious over the future, says the Institute for Supply Management.

The September PMI was up 1 percentage point from August to 51.6%. New orders were flat at 49.6%, and production rose 2.6 points to 51.2%. Inventories dropped a slight 0.3 to 52%, and customer inventories were up 2.5 percentage points to 49%. Backlogs fell 4.5 points to 41.5%, the lowest level since April 2009 (40.5%).
 
“Respondents generally reflect concern over the sluggish economy, political and policy uncertainty in Washington, and forecasts of ongoing high unemployment that will continue to put pressure on demand for manufactured products,” said ISM spokesperson Bradley J. Holcomb.
 
The overall economy grew for the 28th consecutive month, the firm says.

BANNOCKBURN, IL – North American printed circuit board shipments in August decreased 4.4% year-over-year, as orders fell 8%, says IPC.