Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Current Issue

News

WASHINGTON -- The $1.75 billion deal by IBM to sell itsPC division to Lenovo may not pass domestic security reviews, according to a report today.

U.S. federal agencies are reviewing the case on grounds of national security. At issue is Lenovo's announced plans to send Chinese computer experts and researchers to IBM's North Carolina facility, said Enterprise Security Today.

That announcement is creating some consternation at high levels in the U.S. government. Some members of the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States are questioning whether the relocation would open the U.S. to potential acts of industrial espionage.

The CFIUS' role is to review corporate deals that involve foreign firms to determine whether any national security threats may arise. The CFIUS includes the Defense Department, the U.S. Trade Representative's office and the Commerce Department.

One analyst said concerns over the possible breach in security are warranted.

Laura DiDio, an analyst with Yankee Group, was quoted as saying, "China is a still a Communist nation. ... They're very closed, despite these deals, and they sell stuff to people we consider enemies. So there's a real fear here, and it's not unwarranted."

WEST CHICAGO -- The outlook for sales of connectors remains unchanged: growth of 6 to 8%, according to a leading industry research firm.

However, Bishop & Associates says peak demand in the first half of 2004 raises the bar for those numbers to be reached.

Sales growth in 2005 "will require good demand foer electronics products.... Frankly we are a little concerned," the company said in a recent report.

Order growth has slowed, having declined in October and November. The November book-to-bill -- the most recent month for which data are available, was 1.0, below the year-to-date average of 1.02.

"We envision a scenario in which the first half of 2005 will be flat to the first half of 2004," Bishop said. "If 2005 starts slowly, we believe full year growth in 2005 will be difficult to achieve."

Through November, orders were up 22.2% for the year. November orders slipped 2% sequentially.

Shipments were up 22.9%, the 25th straight month of year-on-year gains.

MINNEAPOLIS - The SMTA seeks papers for its November International Wafer-Level Packaging Congress and Exhibition.The event takes place Nov. 3-4 in San Jose.

Called the IWLPC, the event focuses on leading-edge IC packaging and test technologies with special emphasis on 3D stacked packaging.

Abstracts of 200 words should be submitted by April 1 to smta.org/iwlpc/call_for_papers.cfm or by email to Kristin Nafstad (kristin@smta.org).

The event is also sponsored by Chip Scale Review.