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TEMPE, AZ – Manufacturing slowed in December, with the PMI dropping 3.1 percentage points to 47.7%, says the Institute for Supply Management. New orders decreased to 45.7%, down 6.9 points, while production dropped 4.6 points to 47.3%.

Inventories were down slightly to 4.5%, a decrease of 1.4 points, and customer inventories were up 2.5 points in December, to 51.5%. Order backlogs were also up, reaching 43%, an increase of 1.5 points.

“The manufacturing sector failed to grow in December ending 10 consecutive months of growth. The recent trend has been toward slower growth. However, December was apparently a very tough month as new orders, production and employment were all below the breakeven mark of 50%. Industries close to the housing market appear to be struggling more than others, and those involved in exports seem to be doing better. Slower demand appears to be more of a problem than excessive inventories based on the respondents' comments,” said ISM spokesman Norbert J. Ore.

The overall economy grew for the 74th consecutive month, says ISM.

BEIJING -- Microsoft's attempt to invest in a Chinese electronics manufacturer was blocked by the China Security Regulatory Commission as accusations of insider trading abound.

HELSINKI -- Elcoteq will restructure its operations, selling certain underperforming plants and improving its materials management in hopes of cutting $101.5 million to $116 million from its annual operating costs, the EMS firm said Thursday.

YANTAI, CHINA -- Foxconn this week claimed a fire on its Yantai PWB campus has not disrupted production.

However, a Commercial Times report claimed the fire destroyed more than one-third of the Yantai plant's capacity, a reported monthly output of 2.6 million sq. ft.

SAN FRANCISCO – Flextronics and Solectron are being sued for allegedly violating federal and state labor laws governing overtime pay. The suit alleges the EMS companies paid employees by their shift time, rather than for time actually worked.

SAN JOSE – “A year that started with great promise of bipartisan action to enhance American competitiveness in the global economy appears about to end with no significant action on any of the key elements,” said Semiconductor Industry Association president George Scalise. “To say that we are keenly disappointed would be a huge understatement.”

BANNOCKBURN, IL – November PWB orders climbed 11.8% year-over-year in North America, while shipments fell 9.1%, IPC said today. The book-to-bill fell 0.02 points to 1.06, remaining in positive territory for the ninth straight month.

ESPOO, FINLAND – Elcoteq SE, one of the world’s largest EMS firms, will restructure its organization into three business units – Personal Communications, Home Communications and Communications Networks. The moves are effective Jan. 1.

The business units will have dedicated customer accounts and operations, and supply chain management.

Anssi Korhonen is president, Personal Communications, Vesa Keränen is president, Home Communications, and Tommi Pettersson is president, Communications Networks.

Joining them on Elcoteq’s management team are president and CEO Jouni Hartikainen, COO and deputy CEO Jukka Jäämaa, and CFO Mikko Puolakka;

The company had announced in October it would change its business structure in order to streamline its operations.

NEW YORK -- Printed electronics hold the potential to be a game-changer in a wide variety of end markets, according to a new study from ABI Research. Innovative printing techniques have the capability to facilitate high volume, low cost manufacturing of electronics components, which will enable new applications that were not previously addressable with traditional electronics manufacturing techniques. While this market is currently in its infancy, ABI forecasts that printed electronics will see very high growth rates through 2012 and beyond.

“For many end markets the first products are becoming commercially available now, and market realization will be dictated by fulfillment of the promise of printing capabilities at a very low price point,“ says research director Michael Liard. “It will take some time before printing and cost are optimized and this will certainly vary from market segment to market segment in terms of what customers will accept.”

The study presents a detailed assessment of the state of the printed electronics landscape today, with market opportunity analysis across the optoelectronics, large area electronics and power generation/management sectors to assess drivers, barriers, key applications, materials and technologies, manufacturing and key industry competition. Within these sectors, ABI Research has further segmented the market applications for printed electronics as follows: displays, solid state lighting, electronic paper and displays, transistors, integrated circuits, batteries, and photovoltaics.

The greatest market penetration by printing technologies to date has been in displays and lighting for portable electronics. Many of the technologies under development are not quite ready for prime time yet and initial applications are targeting niche markets.

“The most interesting applications involve leveraging printing for entirely new applications, especially those that can provide added value through needed functionality, industry cost savings, security and resource conservation,” notes Liard. “There has been public, government and financial investment interest in developing alternative energy solutions. Applying printing technologies to solar cell manufacturing, for example, can result in better, more efficient materials utilization and manufacturing for greater return on energy investment and capital expenditure.”

NORTH READING, MA -- After spending much of the past two years divesting its non-core operations, Teradyne jumped back into acquisition mode, agreeing to buy Nextest Systems in a cash-for-stock deal.

Teradyne will pay about $325 million, and closing is expected in the March quarter, pending Nextest shareholder and antitrust approvals.

NASHUA, NH -- A Teledyne Technologies subsidiary will buy IR detector maker Judson Technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

The deal is expected to close by Feb. 1.

Judson had 2006 sales of $13.8 million.

TOKYO -- Panasonic Electronic Devices Co. will consolidate its eight subsidiaries in Japan and establish Panasonic Electronic Devices Japan Co. on April 1, the company announced today.

Panasonic Electronic Devices has several subsidiaries, each managed autonomously. The new structure will enable the group to take advantage of the strengths of each subsidiary, including "black-box" technologies and manufacturing skills.