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WASHINGTON -- The US Federal Trade Commission today sued Intel, charging the chipmaker with illegally using its dominant market position to stifle competition and strengthen its monopoly.

SAN JOSE – MEPTEC announced sessions for its From Chip to System: Design Challenges and Solutions symposium on Feb. 25.

ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL – EMS firm SigmaTron International reported fiscal second-quarter revenues decreased 25.5% year-over-year to $30.6 million. Sales were up 16.3% from the previous quarter.

TOKYO – Global electronics sales could rise 5% to 200 trillion yen ($2.24 trillion) next year, Japan’s leading electronics industry association forecast today.

Electronics and communications equipment, in terms of dollars shipped, will grow for the first time in three years, said the Japan Electronics and Information Technology Industries Association.

The trade group pointed to tremendous spending by various governments, including $586 billion in China, $224 billion in Japan, and $800 billion in the US, as helping to spur recovery in electronics.

OLATHE, KS – Elecsys Corp. reported a fiscal second-quarter loss, with a drop in revenue of 44% year-over-year.

The electronic design and manufacturing company posted sales of $4 million for the quarter, with a loss of $322,000, compared with earnings of $424,000 during the same period of 2008.

The company's EDMS sales were $2.3 million, down 25% from the prior year.

The company cited the general economy for the decline.

Elecsys expects to begin shipping the FW950 handheld computer in the current quarter.

MANASSAS, VA – Heraeus and Zestron recently completed an evaluation of 10 solder pastes to characterize the ability to clean flux residues on reflowed assemblies. The effort also examined each paste in its unreflowed state to identify the best methods of removal from stencils and misprinted boards.

The companies have released application bulletins for cleaning the paste formulations.

TAIPEI -- Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai) reported November revenues slipped 9.1% sequentially on typical seasonality demand for consumer electronics.

SALO, FINLAND -- Nokia plans to furlough to 400 workers through 2010 at its Salo, Finland, despite predictions of a rebound in handset sales next year.

ATLANTA – New guidelines from the National Electronic Distributors Association provide best-in-class processes to ensure product purchased through authorized channels is legitimate.

The member-authored document is said to promote standard practices between manufacturers and distributors, in hopes of improving efficiency, profitability and product quality.

NEDA Guideline on Returns is aimed at slowing the entry of counterfeit parts into the electronics supply chain. It seeks to strengthen the integrity of the supply chain when purchasing through authorized distribution by establishing guidelines for returned material. It suggests controls in the form of policies, inspections and verifications.

NEDA is a not-for-profit trade association representing supplier authorized distributors of electronic components and their customers.

GLENVIEW, IL -- ITW today said it expects base revenue to rise 8 to 10% in 2010, with its power systems and electronics sales to lag slightly.

TAIPEI -- Asustek Computer will spin off its contract manufacturing business unit, Pegatron Technology, by July, in a move that immediately creates a Tier II EMS company.

WASHINGTON – A ranking National Association of Manufacturers official slammed the Environmental Protection Agency’s recent declaration that greenhouse gas emissions are a danger to the public health, a ruling that exposes carbon emissions to additional regulations.

The association says the EPA’s findings ignored broad industry response and would put undue burdens on manufacturers that would cost jobs and drive up the price of energy.

“NAM is concerned the EPA did not seriously take into consideration any of the thousands of comments manufacturers made on this proposal,” NAM VP of energy and resources policy Keith McCoy said. “The endangerment finding will have a cascading effect on the ability of all manufacturers to grow and prosper.”

NAM states that by declaring GHG emissions a threat to public health, the EPA is paving the way to regulation of carbon emissions across the board under the Clean Air Act, including manufacturing plants, hospitals and libraries.

NAM says it supports cost-effective efforts to address climate change, but believes Congress should be the authority on the subject.

McCoy is doubtful the EPA’s endangerment finding will achieve its stated goal, but believes it will come at huge costs. The US needs comprehensive environmental federal policy that will avoid economic harm, so as not to hurt American competitiveness, he says.