EL SEGUNDO, CA -- A pair of research firms offered conflicting assessments of where the semiconductor industry is headed this year.

STONY BROOK, NY --  The US Department of Defense has successfully used DNA to "mark" electronics components tapped for the war fighter plane and has committed funds to build a "forensically secure" supply chain from source to end-user.

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Electronics manufacturing services firm Firstronic has appointed John Sammut CEO.

Sammut earlier served as president and CEO of EPIC Technologies for nearly 10 years.

Firstronic’s former CEO, Peter Barclae, has been named chairman.

ARLINGTON, VA – Jedec has published a revision to Inspection Criteria for Microelectronic Packages and Covers (JESD9B). 

NATICK, MA – Cognex has promoted Robert Willett to CEO.

Willett was previously the firm’s president and chief operating officer, with management responsibility for sales, marketing, product development and operations.

As CEO, he also is now responsible for the company’s global finance and administration functions.

He will continue to report to Dr. Robert J. Shillman, who remains chairman of the board and has taken on the role of chief culture officer.

SAN JERONIMO, MEXICO – Foxconn plans to consolidate its North American operations at its 1.6 million sq. ft. manufacturing plant here, according to published reports.

The facility currently includes 400,000 sq. ft. of additional manufacturing space. Foxconn owns 240 hectares in the city.

Foxconn reportedly wants some of its China customers to relocate to Mexico after the real estate market improves.

The decision to consolidate operations in San Jeronimo came as a result of its closeness to important markets in the US, the firm says, in addition to an accessible labor pool in Juárez.

The plant employees 5,500 staff, who can produce up to 50,000 computers daily.

Construction of a facility not owned by the electronics manufacturer has reportedly begun next to the Foxconn factory, which is expected to aid in further industrial growth in the region.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn, the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer, reported May revenue fell slipped sequentially after a deadly disaster took several finishing plants offline for days.

SAN JOSE – The 90-day moving average orders at North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers was $1.62 billion in May, up 6.2% from last year.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Contract manufacturers accepting outsourcing jobs or taking on production duties for manufacturers will account for 90% of the world’s shipments of mobile PCs in 2011, says IHS iSuppli.

ODMs will make up 82% of mobile PC shipments this year, while electronic manufacturing services providers will be responsible for an additional 8%. OEMs will account for just 10% of the overall mobile PC market, says the research firm.

The share splits will remain largely unchanged in the years to come, but EMS providers will make slight headway, gradually solidifying their foothold in the space at the expense of ODMs, says IHS iSuppli.

Nonetheless, ODMs will continue to dominate in the contract manufacturing of mobile PCs. For their part, OEMs – with a few exceptions, such as Samsung – will continue to slash in-house production and outsource jobs to both groups to realize greater cost savings.

Among the top 10 mobile PC manufacturers for 2010, the top 5 were all ODMs, including Quanta Computer, Compal Electronics, Wistron, Inventec and Pegatron – manufacturers all headquartered in Taiwan.

The top OEM was Samsung, currently in sixth place. Top EMS providers were Hon Hai Precision Industry, in seventh, and Flextronics, ranked eighth. OEMs Lenovo Group and Fujitsu came in ninth and tenth, respectively.

Flextronics said it might not participate in new mobile PC programs next year, but Hon Hai will remain formidable in the mobile PC industry, IHS iSuppli believes.

Overall, the mobile PC market will continue to remain a significant source of revenue for the global electronics manufacturing industry, despite the rising popularity of tablet devices such as Apple’s iPad. However, mobile PC manufacturing may move toward consolidation further down the line.

MAASTRICHT, NETHERLANDS -- A European trade group has translated a new JPCA standard for designing and testing embedded devices.

FAIRPORT, NY -- EMS firm SenDEC has opened a dedicated, $2.5 million new product introduction plant across the street from its main facility here.

BRADENTON, FL -- One year after acquiring EMS firm Creonix, KleinPartners Capital plans at least three more deals over the next two years.