TOKYO – Japan's TDK Corp. will invest about $416 million on an electronics component factory, according to a Bloomberg report.

A TDK spokesman said the factory in Yurihonjo will increase the company's manufacturing capacity of ceramic capacitors by 40%. The company will begin building the factory in June, and production will start in the second quarter next year.

SAN JOSE, CA — EMS companies showed strong year-over-year first-quarter growth on the whole, says market research firm Gartner Inc.

Nine top EMS companies showed growth of 16% in the first quarter compared to 2006, according to the research firm.

SPOKANE, WA – EMS provider Key Tronic Corporation will begin providing product assembly for Imation Corp’s tape-based data storage cartridges in July.

The agreement is expected to contribute $20 million to Key Tronic’s annual revenue.

Assembly operations will take place in its primary manufacturing facility in Juarez, Mexico.  

One study will cover Microelectronics: The Future of Miniaturization and its Impact on Electronics Manufacturing; the second will address Geographic Strategies for Global Expansion in the Electronics Interconnect Industry: Where to Invest for Long-Term Business Growth.

Proposals are due by May 18; commissions will be announced in early June. IPC anticipates publishing the studies in September.

More information about IPC’s market research programs, including the Executive Market & Technology Forum, is available on the Market Research page at www.ipc.org.

MANKATO, MN – Winland Electronics, Inc., designer and manufacturer of custom electronic control products and systems, reported first-quarter revenues of $9.3 million.

This was an increase of 13.4% compared to $8.2 million reported for the same period last year. The increase was the result of a 16.4% increase in sales for OEM customers, partially offset by a 12.5% decrease in sales of the company's proprietary line of products.

Gross profit was $1.2 million, 13% of sales, down from $1.7 million in sales for the first quarter of 2006.

Total operating expenses increased 34.1% to $1.5 million when compared to $1.2 million year-over-year.

YAVNE, ISRAEL – Orbotech Ltd., maker of automated inspection systems for PCBs and flat panel displays, has cut its 2007 revenue outlook and posted a lower-than-expected first-quarter profit of $5.6 million, compared with earnings of $14.1 million year-over-year. The company cites the delay in pick up of the flat panel display market.

Revenue in the first quarter fell to $86.1 million from $101.4 million a year ago. The company now expects 2007 revenue of about $380 to $390 million, chief executive Rani Cohen said – $10 to $20 million less than previously projected. However, the company expects second-quarter revenue to increase slightly from the first quarter.

Sales of equipment to the PCB industry fell to $35.5 million from $40.8 million year-over-year, while sales of flat panel display inspection equipment slipped to $19.1 million from $30 million, said Orbotech.

JASPER, IN – Kimball International, Inc. announced sales for the third quarter of fiscal year 2007 were $311.6 million, an increase of 20% over sales of $260.7 million year-over-year. Sales included $79.2 million from acquisitions in the company's electronic contract assemblies segment. Sales in this segment increased 49% as a result of the acquisitions. On February 15, Kimball completed the acquisition of Reptron Electronics, Inc., a U.S.-based EMS company. The purchase price was $50.9 million.

Income for the third quarter was $3.8 million, which included a loss from discontinued operations of $600,000. For the same period last year, income was $7.3 million, including a loss from discontinued operations of $400,000.

Sales for the third quarter in the electronic contract assemblies segment were $165.3 million, an increase of 49% over sales of $111.1 million last year.

PRINCETON, NJ – Tyco International Ltd. reported lower quarterly profit, but results beat expectations led partially by improving sales in its electronics segment. Net earnings fell 6.7% to $835 million in the company’s fiscal second quarter, from $895 million year-over-year. Revenue rose 7% to $10.8 billion.

The company expects third-quarter sales will be up 5.5 to 6.5%.  

Tyco, which plans to separate its health-care and electronics divisions by the end of June, said each of segments reported higher quarterly sales, but all had lower operating income and profit margins.

MELVILLE, NY — Nu Horizons Electronics Corp., distributor of electronic components, reported that for the fiscal year ended Feb. 28, net sales increased to $737.5 million from $561.3 million year-over-year, an increase of 31%.

Net income for the year increased 103% to $9.9 million, compared with $4.9 million in the same period last year.

Net sales for the fourth quarter increased to $170.1 million from $164.1 million in the same period last year, an increase of 4%. Net income for the quarter was $900,000, compared with $2.1 million year-over-year.

Of the 70 million color television shipments in China in 2006, ODMs and EMS providers produced 20 million. With several dozen DTV design houses emerging in China, they are beginning to provide both semi-knock down and complete knock-down services domestically in cooperation with semiconductor suppliers, says iSuppli.

China is trying to become a major force in handset design as well, adds the firm. Local design of handsets reached 129 million units in 2006, with that number expected to grow to 170 million in 2007 as a result of increasing shipments from Chinese handset OEMs, independent design houses and ODMs, iSuppli predicts.

What are the Top-50 Chinese handset manufacturers doing to take advantage of strong demand? How can China’s handset industry improve its design capabilities? What is being done to compete against the gray-market handset suppliers and to win more sales overseas? How are DTV design houses distributing DTV chipsets in China? What role will design houses play in supplying TV chips to Chinese manufacturers?

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http://www.isuppli.com/events/default.asp?EventCode=WB