SANTA CLARA, CA – MEPTEC will host a semiconductor packaging symposium on Nov. 10 here.

Speakers will take a look at trends and projections in packaging technology with an event covering technical roadmaps from throughout the industry, including IDMs and OEMs, as well as packaging houses and EMS providers. 

Mark Brillhart of Cisco will keynote with Technology Innovation in High Performance Networking Products. He will explore innovations in high-performance packaging that meet the challenges of high-speed electrical performance, signal and power integrity and enhanced thermal dissipation, and address the strenuous requirements of product-level reliability, high availability and long field life.

Technical sessions include Semiconductor Industry Roadmaps: Carving out the Decade Ahead; SATS Technology Development:  Merging Internal and Customer Roadmaps; System-Level Implications on IC Package Design, and Packaging Roadmaps for Emerging Applications.

For more information, visit http://www.meptec.org/meptecroadmaps20.html. 

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Component inventories are climbing, but do not present a problem, a leading researcher says.

VANCOUVER, BC -- Northstar Electronics reported second-quarter net loss of $179,625, up from a net loss of $300,905 last year.

ARLINGTON, VA -- Electronic component orders rose in July, the Electronic Components Association said today, revising an earlier report indicating that the key leading metric had declined.

SAN JOSE – The 90-day moving average orders among North America-based semiconductor equipment manufacturers was $1.83 billion in July, up 5.9% from revised June figures and 220% higher that last year.

EL SEGUNDO, CA -- DRAM sales rose 14% sequentially to $10.78 billion as average selling prices hit their highest point in nearly two years.

WESTLAKE, OH -- Nordson reported record third-quarter net income of $55 million, up 130% year-over-year.

WEYBRIDGE, ENGLAND -- TT Electronics' EMS unit saw operating profits on higher sales in the first half, rising 20% from a year ago to 1.8 million pounds.

BANGKOK – Fabrinet announced fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $13.6 million, up 245% year-over-year.

ORADEA, ROMANIA – Plexus Corp. said it has resumed operations here, following last week’s fire.

The fire was isolated to administrative offices in one of two buildings, and occurred when unoccupied; no injuries or fatalities resulted from this incident.

The source of the fire appears consistent with an electrical failure, the EMS firm said.

SHENZHEN – Hon Hai Precision (Foxconn) will increase its China workforce 9% to one million this year, and another 20% to 30% in 2011.

The world’s largest contract electronics assembler plans to cut its Shenzhen-based workforce to between 300,000 and 350,000 staff within the next five years, down from 470,000 today, as it moves production inland to lower-wage provinces.

The company also expects to limit overtime to 36 hours per month, down from about 80 hours currently.

SPOKANE VALLEY, WA -- Key Tronic Corp.'s fiscal fourth-quarter net income jumped to $2.3 million, up from $300,000 in the year-ago quarter, the 26th straight quarter of profitability.