SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA -- Intel yesterday announced plans to cut 1,500 jobs from its assembly and test operation here as part of a planned migration of manufacturing to Asia. The cuts affect more than 50% of the semiconductor manufacturer's workforce here.

OYSTER BAY, NY -- Sales of collision warning and mitigation systems will reach $29.5 billion by the end of 2020, with the majority of the market value being accounted for by vehicles sold in the Asia-Pacific region, ABI Research forecasts.

TORONTO – Firan Technology Group reported first-quarter sales ended Feb.  28 of nearly $14 million, up 7.5% year-over-year.

LAS VEGAS – Six long-time IPC volunteers were presented with IPC President’s Awards at IPC Apex Expo.

BOXBOROUGH, MA – Metcal will hold a pair of workshops on reworking printed circuit board assemblies in the Boston and New York suburbs next month.

CHANDLER, AZ – Isola Group has launched a technology licensing program to mitigate conductive anodic filamentation (CAF) problems in the fabrication of printed circuit boards.

STAMFORD, CT – Worldwide semiconductor capital equipment spending totaled $33.8 billion in 2013, an 11.5% decline year-over-year, says Gartner.

WASHINGTON — Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $25.87 billion in February, an increase of 11.4% from a year ago, the Semiconductor Industry Association said today. It was the industry’s largest year-to-year increase in more than three years.

MALMO, SWEDEN -- PartnerTech has formed a new unit for product development and services, part of the EMS firm's reorganization. The unit serves the Metal Precision Technology, Systems Integration Technology and Electronics Technology business units.

STAMFORD, CT -- Worldwide IT spending is on pace to total $3.8 trillion in 2014, up 3.2% over 2013, Gartner said today. The forecast is slightly higher than the research firm's prediction in January.

SAN JOSE — Sales of software for semiconductor and printed circuit design rose 5.7% year-over-year in the December quarter, setting a new fourth-quarter mark in the process. Sales were $1.88 billion for the period said the EDA Consortium, which tracks the data.

SEND, SURREY, UK -- Vision Engineering will build a new headquarters behind its existing facility here, and will ultimately replace the current factory with a new campus of buildings, the firm said. The new 80,000 sq. ft.facility will enhance Vision Engineering’s manufacturing capabilities and provide a long-term base for continued growth, the firm added.