Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - Features

NORWALK, CT -- Worldwide shipments of electronic displays reached $85 billion last year and will grow at an average annual growth rate of 10.6%, reaching $141 billion by 2010.

Rearchers Business Communications Co. forecast flat panel displays will almost eliminate CRTs, which accounted for just over 32% of the market in 2005 and are forecast to decline to 6.6% by 2010.

Flat panel displays accounted for 67% of the total value in 2005. and will grow at an AAGR of 16%, jumping from $57.8 in 2005 to $121.5 billion in 2010. At this point they will account for 85% of the total display value in 2010.

Liquid crystal displays are used in a broad range of technologies, particularly the fast growing handheld applications. LCDs are the primary competitor to the CRT and will reach an AAGR of 17.5% in 2010. Shipments of plasma displays, a competitor in large television applications, reached $4 billion in value in 2004. Over the five year forecast period, shipments of plasma displays are forecast to reach a value of $10 billion.

Organic light emitting displays (OLEDs) are a burgeoning display technology that had shipments valued at close to $1 billion in 2004. The value of OLED shipments is expected to grow at an AAGR of 22.3% by 2010 to reach more than $3 billion. Shipments of other display technologies, including inorganic LEDs and vacuum fluorescent displays are projected to grow in value at rates exceeding 4% through the 2010 forecast period.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn filed more patent applications than any other business in Taiwan in 2005.

Foxconn, which also goes under the name Hon Hai Precision Industries, filed for 1,886 patents, nearly 1,000 more than runner-up Industrial Technology Research Institute. The EMS company received approval for 1,018 patents last year.

SUZHOU -- Indium Corp. (Suzhou) Co. Ltd. has passed an audit for ISO-9001:2000 certification, the company announced.

The Suzhou facility is latest of the the company’s operations in the U.S., Europea, and Asia-Pacific to attain ISO-9001:2000 certification.

HERNDON, VA— The International Electronics Manufacturing Initiative (iNEMI) will kick off its 2007 Roadmap during Apex next month, with a meeting on Feb. 6-7. In addition, several iNEMI project activities and results will be discussed in conference forums and technical sessions.

Every two years, iNEMI maps the future manufacturing technology needs of the global electronics industry. The roadmap helps companies anticipate shifts in product requirements and provides an early warning of changes in technology or infrastructure. It also identifies emerging and disruptive technologies, fuels development of future projects and sets priorities for industry R&D over the next 10 years.

iNEMI is recruiting industry experts to participate in the 2007 Roadmap (membership is not required). The group is looking for a diverse mix of OEMs, EMS providers, suppliers and R&D institutes, including those in Europe and Asia.

For more details and a registration form, visit: inemi.org/cms/calendar/APEX_2006_Roadmap_2007_Mtg.html

Other iNEMI Meetings & Presentations
A Halogen-Free Call for Participation Meeting will take place on Feb. 8 at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel. This is an organizational meeting for iNEMI’s new halogen-free effort. The initiative hopes to promote standards development by establishing materials, manufacturing, assembly and test guidelines for halogen-free PWBs based on market segment requirements and technical, commercial and functional viability.

Other meetings on Feb. 8 will cover Lead-Free and RoHS; tin whiskers; and roadmapping interconnect technology. Session of Feb. 9 include: copper vs. optoelectronics in PCBs; the medical standards initiative; industry adoption of IPC 2581; and the Pb-Free DPMO project.

ST. PETERSBURG, FL -- Jabil Circuit has exercised an option to acquire all the outstanding stock of Celetronix International Ltd., a privately held electronics manufacturer based in India.

abil loaned $25 million to Celetronix in fiscal 2005 in exchange for an option to purchase 100% of the shares of the company. The incremental purchase price for the acquisition is expected to be approximately $155 million plus the assumption of approximately $30 million of net debt, putting the total cost at $205 million.

WALLINGFORD, CT – Amphenol Corp. reported fourth-quarter 2005 net income of about $200 million while sales rose 26% to $508.1 million.

For the year ended Dec. 31, the company reported sales of $1.81 billion, up 18.3% over a year ago and a new company high.

Fourth quarter results include sales by the former Teradyne Connection Systems of $35 million in December.

Interconnect products – 89% of the company’s overall sales – was up 27% “with excellent profitability,” said Amphenol chairman and CEO Martin H. Loeffler.

The company said growth was broad-based and included all major geographic regions. Growth was especially strong in the mobile device market. Cable products was up 14% over the prior year.

Operating income margin in the quarter was 18.5%, down from 18.8% last year. Excluding the impact of TCS, which in December had operating income margins of 7.5%, the fourth quarter margin was 19.3%. Cash flow from operations was $75 million.

The company guided for 2006 revenues of $2.25 billion to $2.3 billion. For the first quarter it forecast revenues of $535 million to $545 million. The TCS acquisition is expected to be accretive for 2006, but slightly dilutive in the first half.