Circuits Assembly Online Magazine - News

News

GLENVIEW, IL – Illinois Tool Works today reported operating revenue rose 15% for the three months ended Feb. 28. The conglomerate saw 2% growth from existing divisions and 11% from acquisitions.

Among ITW's major electronics assembly company holdings are Kester Solder, Speedline Technologies and ITW Chemtronics.

HANNOVER, Germany – Support for AMD’s new standard for small form factor PCs is growing, the chipmaker said today.

DTX open standard specification helps OEMs and suppliers to develop energy-efficient small form factor products that are smaller, quieter, and desktop-friendly. Akasa, Albatron, ASUS, Asetek, Compucase, ECS, Founder, FSP, Gigabyte, Hedy, NVIDIA, Shuttle, SilverStone Technology, Thermaltake and Tongfang have expressed support for DTX, AMD said.

SAN FRANCISCO -- The CFO and and executive vice president of Juniper Networks have resigned, the company said last night.

Juniper chief executive Scott Kriens said resignations were "not at all related to the financial model or the financial performance of the company." Juniper filed required financial statements for fiscal 2006 last Friday, following delays due to an internal probe into the network gear OEM's employee stock options disbursements.

MANKATO, MN -- EMS provider Winland Electronics reported fourth quarter revenues rose 5% to $9.2 million year-over-year, led by new customer wins and expanding sales to current customers base. The company recorded a record $37.9 million in sales for the year.

For the period ended Dec. 31, net income fell 92.4% to $51,036, compared to last year.

AMSTERDAM – Royal Philips Electronics has taken its first steps toward divesting its stake in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), selling about 887 million shares to financial investors in Taiwan for about 1.3 billion euros in cash.

The move was expected: Philips on March 9 announced a multi-phased plan to divest itself from TSMC.

The sale generated proceeds of approximately 1.3 billion euros, and will result in a non-taxable gain of approximately 725 million euros for Philips’ first quarter 2007.

Philips now holds approximately 3,301 million shares in TSMC, lowering its holding in TSMC from 16.2% to 12.8%.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Rapid price reductions are boosting sales of large-sized LCD TVs, says iSuppli, which increased its forecast for shipments in 2007.

TAIPEI – Asustek Computer Inc. forecast an 80% rise in shipments of its branded laptops this year, the company said in March. In January the company had forecast a 58% increase in laptop shipments.

Last year, Asustek, which is also the world’s largest motherboard maker, sold 2.7 million units. Asustek also makes computers for Apple, Dell, and Sony Corp.

“Orders right now are pretty good, so we are confident of hitting this target,” Asustek Asia Pacific sales president Benson Lin said at a March press conference.

DURHAM, NH – Sales of wave soldering equipment hit $235 million worldwide last year, according to a new study by ITM Marketing (itmconsulting.org). (Disclosure: ITM founder Phil Zarrow is a regular Circuits Assembly columnist.)

The 75-page study, Worldwide Wave Soldering Market Study, is a comprehensive analysis of the equipment market from the supplier and end-user perspectives. It covers price to performance benchmarks, supplier perception ratings and supplier and user interviews.

In a press release, ITM Marketing managing director Bob Klenke said, “This study helps to identify the principle characteristics of wave solder machines and how the respective suppliers differ in terms of key specifications, features and capabilities.”

SANTA BARBARA, CA – Design Solutions Inc. has acquired Paradigm Manufacturing Partners, an EMS provider based in Garden Grove, CA. Paradigm, which has one SMT line, performs NPI through medium-volume surface-mount board assemblies, box build and rework projects. Scott Penin, president and CEO of Paradigm, has been appointed vice president of global manufacturing of DSI.

EL SEGUNDO, CA – Shipments of portable media player and MP3s will grow to 268.6 million units in 2011, a CAGR of 5.5% from this year, says research firm iSuppli Corp.

“The future of PMP/MP3 players is bright due to continued hardware cost reductions, the rapid growth of online video and audio content and new offerings that will make it easier for users to access and download such online media,” said senior analyst Chris Crotty.

iSuppli believes PMPs will retain their technological edge over media-capable handsets, including media-capable cellphones like Apple’s new iPhone.

SINGAPORE -- Asia-Pacific consumers will increasingly opt for higher-end set-top boxes that support personal video recorder and high-definition features, according to a new study from ABI Research. This trend will be driven to a large degree by China, which will see the region's largest increase in subscriber numbers.

The firm forecasts China to take the lead in shipments, with approximately 75 million digital cable STBs and 9 million telco TV STBs, respectively, by 2012.

TRNAVA, SLOVAKIA — Samsung Electronics is reportedly planning to invest $155 million in a new LCD assembly plant here, with total investment possibly reaching $600 million, according to published reports.

The new plant is expected to employ 5,700 workers by 2010, and construction could begin during the next few months, EE Times said today.